Dislocation after total hip arthroplasty: a randomized clinical trial of a posterior approach and a modified lateral approach.

We compared the dislocation rate of total hip arthroplasty between posterior approach and lateral approach in a prospective randomized trial. One hundred ninety-six hips were randomly chosen for a posterior approach with a posterior soft tissue repair (99 hips) or a lateral approach (97 hips). The average duration of follow-up was 37.9 months. Three hips (3%) dislocated in the lateral group, whereas none from the posterior group dislocated. At the final follow-up, the Harris hip score and limping were similar in the 2 groups. The joint stability obtained by the posterior soft tissue repair in the posterior approach group seemed to produce more favorable result when compared to the stability obtained from the lateral approach group.