When Can I Drive After Orthopaedic Surgery? A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background Patients often ask their doctors when they can safely return to driving after orthopaedic injuries and procedures, but the data regarding this topic are diverse and sometimes conflicting. Some studies provide observer-reported outcome measures, such as brake response time or simulators, to estimate when patients can safely resume driving after surgery, and patient survey data describing when patients report a return to driving, but they do not all agree. We performed a systematic review and quality appraisal for available data regarding when patients are safe to resume driving after common orthopaedic surgeries and injuries affecting the ability to drive.

Reaction time and brake pedal force after total knee replacement: timeframe for return to car driving

“…4 Subjective driving ability; rated according to the German school grading system (1-"very good", 6 "insufficient"). Prior to surgery, patients rated their driving ability "good" (2.3 ± 1.2) [1][2][3][4][5]. Subjective ratings decreased to 4.4 ± 1.2 after surgery [1][2][3][4][5][6].…”

“…Additionally, we documented epidemiological data (height, weight, age, sex), driving frequency, pain [scored with a numerical rating scale (NRS)], subjective fitness to drive (scored according to the German school grading system with 1 being the best and 6 being the worst), and the duration of forearm crutch use. Forearm crutches were reportedly used in everyday life for an average of 5.8 ± 3.1 weeks [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…Mean knee joint pain was rated 5.1 ± 2.3 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] preoperatively, 4.9 ± 2.1 [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] immediately after surgery, 2.9 ± 1.7 at postoperative week 3/4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], and 2.1 ± 1.3 [1][2][3][4][5][6] at postoperative week 6. Pain was significantly reduced starting from week 3/4 (p < 0.001).…”

Primary care management of postoperative shoulder, hip, and knee arthroplasty

“…Patients should be allowed to drive only if they can apply an emergency brake and they have sufficient reaction times. Various studies have suggested that this may take between four and eight weeks after knee or hip arthroplasty, [26][27][28] although most organisations recommend a minimum of six weeks before driving. Recommendations for total shoulder replacement similarly suggest six weeks, because of the difficulty in controlling steering wheels and gear sticks.…”

Utility of microcalorimetry in describing the growth curve of C. albicans at different temperatures – indentifying the optimal growth temperature

“…By performing a simple search in the specialty literature, an exponential growth of arthroplasty surgeries in correlation with the life span of the population and implying a need that presupposes the increase of the quality of life, also by maintaining or improving mobility at a satisfying level, can be observed [2]. At the same time, due to the increase in the number of traffic and sports accidents, the use of artificial joints and implants for osteosynthesis will constantly rise [3,4]. The prostheses and the osteosynthesis materials used for the treatment of degenerative, traumatic or even esthetic pathologies, are made of materials with a good biocompatibility [5,6].…”