Abstract
The purpose of this retrospective study was to estimate the outcome improvements after Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) in patients who underwent THA with a navigation system in our institutions, and to compare them with those undergoing THA without a navigation system that had been reported in the literatures. The subjects in this study comprised 245 patients (39 males, 206 females; mean age, 59.9±12.0 years; mean BMI, 22.8±3.2 kg/m2) who underwent THA. All patients had adequate data to allow complete scoring of the WOMAC for a minimum one-year postoperative follow-up. CT-based navigation was used in all THAs. Postoperatively, no restrictions were imposed. A MEDLINE search was conducted using the search terms ‘Total hip’, ‘Quality of life (QOL)’, and ‘WOMAC’. 10 articles evaluated all WOMAC subscales one to two years after THA. The WOMAC subscale scores were compared statistically between our study and the results reported in the 10 articles using Welch's t-test. The present physical function subscale scores were the best of the 10 studies, and in 8 of the 10 studies, the differences were significant. WOMAC subscale results in our study were significantly better than those reported in most articles in which THA was performed without navigation. These results show that THA using navigation can improve patients' postoperative QOL.
