The purpose of this study was to evaluate and assess the sporting and physical activities of patients who have undergone hip resurfacing. One hundred and seventeen patients who underwent hip resurfacing between 2003–2007 were reviewed.

Demographic data such as age, sex and comorbidities were recorded. University of California and Los Angeles (UCLA) activity level ratings and Oxford hip scores were collected pre-and postoperatively for each patient. The sporting and physical activities of all patients were pre-and post-operatively recorded.

The mean age of patients at surgery was 54 yrs and 56 yrs at review. The mean follow up time was 19 months. Following surgery there was a significant improvement in UCLA activity level scores from 4.4 to 6.8 (Wilcoxon Matched-pairs Signed rank test, p< 0.05). Oxford hip scores significantly improved from 43.4 to 17.7 following surgery. Eighty six patients regularly participated in sport before they became symptomatic with significant hip pain, and 75 regularly participated in sports after surgery. In total 87% of patients successfully returned to their regular sporting and physical activities following surgery. Many patients were returning to high impact sports including football, tennis, cricket and squash.

The published medium-term survivorship of the Birmingham hip has given surgeons increasing confidence to use the prosthesis on a younger generation of patients. Our study has demonstrated that hip resurfacing can allow patients to remain extremely active.