The Italian arthroplasty registry (Registro Italiano di ArtroProtesi – Riap) is a project funded by the Italian Ministry of Health – Directorate General of Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Service, and coordinated by the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità – Iss). It started in 2006 with the aim to organise the national registry, a systematic data collection of all the joint replacements (hip, knee, shoulder and ankle) performed at national level.
Aim of the registry is to analyse implants survival and recall patients in case of failures, respecting the privacy rules requirements. These features make the registry a valuable instrument for monitoring the implanted devices and, therefore, protecting patients’ safety.
The Riap architecture is based on the following three main pillars:
- be a federation of regional registries coordinated by Iss, to respect regions autonomy and work with a common national protocol
- use hospital discharge data integrated by an additional minimum data set, to reduce burden for surgeons
- implement and manage a Medical Devices Library (Riap-MD Library), including data to identify and characterise every implanted MD, to allow the correct traceability of the device.
Responsible for the work and progress of the Riap project is the Steering committee, appointed May 28, 2008, by the President of the Iss. All the actors involved in joint replacements (public health institutions, national and regional administrative and scientific bodies, surgeons, manufacturers and patients) are represented in the Riap Steering committee.