Sport nach hüft-totalendoprothese - Expertenmeinung versus patientenrealität

Patients with hip arthroplasty have higher and higher expectations of their implant, in particular concerning sports exercise post surgically. Minimally- invasive techniques and optimized materials influence the recommendations of the surgeons. Which sports are really practiced by patients and which advice experts give is subject to constant change and, therefore, must be checked regularly to be able to optimally advise patients. A retrospective study was conducted in which 17 surgeons answered our questions regarding their sports recommendations. The 239 patients were also asked to describe their post-op level of sports participation and to complete a Harris Hip Score (HHS) questionnaire. Almost 70 percent of the 239 patients participated in sports after hip replacement. The HHS in active patients (92.8) was higher than in the non-active participants (83.3). More than 88 percent of active patients were fully content with their hip joint replacement compared to only 2/3 of the inactive group. 28 percent of the patients received no advice regarding sport participation or could not remember explicit recommendations regarding sport activity. More than 3/4 of all patients indicated having problems initiating sports activities after surgery. Despite optimized implants or minimally-invasive techniques, surgeons' recommendations toward sports have not changed much since the recommendations of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin und Prävention". Patients, however, regularly subject their prosthesis to high-impact activities without knowing the risks. Individually tailored advice and offers, which accompany the patients on their way back to sports are necessary.