ArticlePakistan journal of medical sciences2026
Can frailty predict complications and mortality in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the value of frailty in predicting postoperative complications and mortality in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methodology: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE and CENTRAL databases were screened up to 20 Results: Sixteen studies with over 14 million patients were included. Frail patients had a significantly higher risk of 30-day mortality with RR 4.40 (95% CI: 2.18-8.91; p < 0.00001); overall postoperative complications with RR 1.85 (95% CI: 1.35-2.52; p= 0.0001); 30-day readmission with RR: 2.24 (95% CI: 1.74-2.87; p < 0.00001) and 30-day reoperation with RR: 1.81 (95% CI: 1.48-2.22; p < 0.0001). Frailty was also linked to an increased risk of surgical site infections with RR 1.56 ( 95% CI: 0.86-2.83) and prolonged hospital stay with mean difference MD 0.86 days (95% CI: 0.55-1.16; p<0.00001). Individual complications, such as myocardial infarction, renal complications and pulmonary embolism, were consistently more frequent in frail patients. Heterogeneity was moderate to high in some outcomes, attributed to differences in frailty assessment tools and study designs. Conclusion: Within the limitations, frailty is a strong, independent predictor of increased postoperative complications, mortality and prolonged hospital stays in patients undergoing TKA. Incorporating frailty assessments into preoperative evaluations can enhance risk stratification and guide interventions to improve perioperative care in this vulnerable population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.