Background

With the rising demand for primary total hip arthroplasty (THA), there has been an emphasis on reducing the revision burden and improving patient outcomes. Although studies have shown that primary THA effectively minimizes pain and restores normal hip function for activities of daily living, many younger patients want to participate in more demanding activities after their operation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age, gender and patient satisfaction after total hip arthroplasty.

Introduction

With the growing emphasis on the cost of medical care, there is renewed interest in the productivity and efficiency of surgical procedures. We have developed a method to systematically examine the efficiency of the surgical team during primary total knee replacement (TKR). In this report, we present data derived from a series of procedures performed by different joint surgeons. This data demonstrates a variation between the duration and efficiency of each step in this procedure and its relationship to the experience and coordination of the surgeon working with the scrub team.

Introduction: It is generally agreed that the function of the knee after total knee arthroplasty needs to be improved to meet the expectations of younger and more active patients. However, little objective information consists to quantify the frequency and importance of activities that place increased biomechanical demand on the knee. This study was performed to asses which specific “high-demand” activities are actually performed by patients after knee replacement, and which activities are of greatest personal importance to the patient.

Methods: An initial group of 243 patients (47% male; 53% female, average age: 70 years; range: (45–91 yrs)) were enrolled in this study with Institutional approval. All were at least 1 year post knee replacement and resided in the Houston area. All participants completed a validated, self-administered knee function questionnaire consisting of 55 scaled multiple choice questions regarding each respondent’s physical activities, limitations, and level of importance for those activities. Participants were also asked to assess the personal importance of each activity and the severity of any symptoms experienced when each activity was performed. An expanded version of the Knee Function Questionnaire was completed by a second group of 101 patients from 5 centres in the United States and Canada. This instrument addressed 120 physical, vocational and recreational activities involving the knee. Fifty-four of these activities were considered “highly demanding” and were drawn from a wide variety of water and team sports, martial arts, running/biking, exercise, weight-lifting and fitness training.

Results: The initial study demonstrated that TKR patients participate in a wide range of “high demand” activities. Most commonly, activities requiring increased knee flexion were gardening (58% participation), kneeling (64%), and squatting (39%). Moderate to severe difficulty was reported by 39% (squatting) to 64% (kneeling) of respondents performing these activities. The most common activity which placed increased loads on the affected joint was carrying loaded shopping bags (47% participation), which provoked Significant symptoms in 23% of patients. The expanded nation-wide study showed that after TKR, few patients actually perform high impact competitive sports although many patients perform individual exercise routines which potentially place Significant demands on the knee. The most common of these “high demand” activities were still squatting and kneeling, but also included participation in gym and exercise activities, typically leg extensions (59%), leg curls (35%) and leg press exercises (33%).

Conclusions:

Kneeling and squatting are the most common “high-demand” activities actually performed on a routine basis by patients after TKR