Background: There is only sparse knowledge on the psychological burden of patients who have periprosthetic joint infections. The aim of our study was to assess the need for psychological support following total joint arthroplasty of the hip and knee. A special focus was set on patients who had aseptic and septic complications.

Methods: A total of 13,976 patients who underwent total hip (n = 6,926) or total knee arthroplasty (n = 7,050) between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2019 at a single institution were retrospectively evaluated for the postoperative need for a psychological consultation. Data were collected on age, sex, type of surgery, and indications for revision procedures. The need for a psychological consultation was assessed during the daily postoperative visits, which were further coordinated by 2 institutional psychologists.

Results: The average age was 68 years (range, 12 to 100), and there were 63.5% women. The overall rate of psychological consultations was 1.7%. Patients who had a septic indication for revision surgery had an 18.7-fold higher rate of postoperative psychological consultations compared to patients following primary surgery and a 5.4-fold higher rate compared to patients who had an aseptic indication. In detail, this rate was 1.0% in the primary subgroup, compared to 7.7% following revision arthroplasty (P < .001). In the revision subgroup, the rate was 17.9% for septic and 3.3% for aseptic revision arthroplasty cases (P < .001). Postoperative psychological consultations were twice as frequent in women (2.1%) compared to men (1.0%), P < .001.

Conclusions: The present study raises awareness of the markedly high psychological burden in revision arthroplasty cases, in the view of the high estimated number of unknown cases. There is a significant correlation between periprosthetic joint infectionsand the postoperative need for a psychological consultation, with women being at an even higher risk. Health care providers should aim at offering psychological support for patients who have a septic complication, with affected patients being at risk for psychological stress.

Level of evidence: IV.