Compensation claims following anterior cruciate ligament injuries reported to the patient insurance company in Sweden in 2005–2014

Authors

  • Osama Omar Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
  • Dzan Rizvanovic Department of Orthopaedics, Växjö Central Hospital, Region Kronoberg, and Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Stockholm Sports Trauma Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
  • Markus Waldén Unit of Community Medicine, Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden, and Department of Orthopaedics, Hässleholm-Kristianstad Hospitals, Hässleholm
  • Karl Eriksson Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
  • Björn Barenius Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
  • Anders Stålman Capio Artro Clinic, and Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Stockholm Sports Trauma Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6261-2024

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1080/17453674.2021.1996102

Keywords:

Anterior cruciate ligament, Insurance claim, Malpractice

Abstract

Background and purpose — Patients in the Swedish healthcare system are insured against avoidable adverse events via Landstingens Ömsesidiga Försäkringsbolag (LÖF). We assessed the reasons for compensation claims reported to LÖF following an ACL injury.

Patients and methods — We searched the LÖF database for compensation claims related to ACL injuries reported in 2005–2014, and cross-matched claims with the Swedish National Knee Ligament Register. We then performed a review of the medical records.

Results — We identified 530 eligible claims in 2005–2014. 352 (66%) claims were accepted by LÖF and 178 claims were rejected. Accepted claims corresponded to fewer than 1% of ACL surgeries performed in the same period. The most common reasons for an accepted claim were postoperative septic arthritis followed by suboptimal surgery and delay in diagnosis and treatment.

Interpretation — There are different reasons for accepting a compensation claim following an ACL injury, which represents different treatment errors that can be avoided.

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Published

2022-01-03

How to Cite

Omar, O., Rizvanovic, D., Waldén, M., Eriksson, K., Barenius, B., & Stålman, A. (2022). Compensation claims following anterior cruciate ligament injuries reported to the patient insurance company in Sweden in 2005–2014. Acta Orthopaedica, 93, 97–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/17453674.2021.1996102

Issue

Vol. 93 (2022): Acta Orthopaedica

Section

Clinical observational study

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Osama Omar, Dzan Rizvanovic, Markus Waldén, Karl Eriksson, Björn Barenius, Anders Stålman

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for non-commercial purposes, provided proper attribution to the original work.