Background: A major limitation of total knee replacement (TKR), as with other joint replacements, is the risk of revision. Revision TKR is associated with high risk and economic burden to patients, healthcare providers, and societies. It will be worthwhile to assess the economic burden of revision TKR across countries or different study settings. This study aims to review the literature on the cost of revision TKR to assess costs across countries and studies, estimate a pooled cost estimate for homogenous data, and identify major cost components that contribute to the cost burden.
Methods: We will conduct a search of the MEDLINE (OvidSp), EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EconLit, and Google Scholar databases to identify relevant studies, and will use an optimally designed search approach to search for relevant studies. EndNote library will be used to manage the searched studies. Selection will be undertaken in two phases-screening and eligibility. Study selection, data extraction, and assessment of the risk of bias will be performed in duplicate, after which the data will be analysed narratively and a meta-analysis performed for homogenous studies, if possible.
Discussion: This protocol provides a proposed stepwise plan for conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of the cost of revision TKR. Findings from this systematic review will provide information about the cost across settings and identify the major cost drivers of revision TKR, which will, in turn, stimulate efforts to minimize the cost.
Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020171988.