Short-term Recovery of Balance Control after Total Hip Arthroplasty

Abstract

Hip osteoarthritis leads to chronic pain and deteriorated joint function, which affect weightbearing and balance during gait. THA effectively restores hip function but it is not known whether THA restores balance during gait. We hypothesized patients would have greater frontal plane and smaller sagittal plane center of mass-center of pressure inclination angles preoperatively compared with control subjects, and THA would improve these inclination angles by 16 weeks postsurgery. Compared with control subjects, we observed greater frontal plane inclination angles and smaller sagittal plane angles preoperatively, indicating gait imbalance. These inclination angles were improved postoperatively, providing better balance control. Despite improvement, patients differed in frontal and sagittal plane inclination angles compared with control subjects. This suggests residual deficits in dynamic balance control in patients undergoing THA before and up to 4 months after surgery.

No Strength or Gait Benefit of Two-incision THA: A Brief Followup at 1 Year

“…However, relatively little direct objective comparison data have been published comparing minimally invasive THA techniques with one another or with an established THA technique [11,18,29]. Using comprehensive gait analysis and strength testing, we previously investigated the early (2-month) functional outcome after THA, with a randomized clinical trial of the two-incision and mini-posterior surgical approaches and found an advantage for the miniposterior approach [16].…”

No Benefit of the Two-incision THA over Mini-posterior THA: A Pilot Study of Strength and Gait

“…To date, however, relatively little direct comparison data have been published comparing minimally invasive THA techniques with one another or with an established THA technique [9,13,22]. We were particularly interested to see if one widely touted technique, the two-incision approach, provided substantial early functional benefits over another form of THA.…”

Is quality of life related to risk of falling, fear of falling, and functional status in patients with hip arthroplasty?

“…In hip arthroplasty patients, decrease in joint function and muscle strength increases risk for falling, and patients might experience fear of falling during activities of daily living (ADL) resulting from permanent impacts on joint function (Lugade, Klausmeier, Jewett, Collis, & Chou, 2008;Nagai et al, 2014). Investigation of the relationship of these parameters with HRQoL may be important in terms of improving quality of life.…”