Early surgical and functional outcomes comparison of the supercapsular percutaneously-assisted total hip and traditional posterior surgical techniques for total hip arthroplasty: protocol for a randomized, controlled study.

BACKGROUND

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the most commonly performed and successful orthopaedic surgeries. While the long-term success of THA is well documented, there is still significant room for improving patient speed of recovery and return to activities. The surgical technique used during THA has the potential to affect these early outcomes.

METHODS

The described design is a single center, prospective, randomized, controlled study. Subjects will be randomized to receive THA using either the supercapsular percutaneously-assisted total hip (SuperPath) or traditional posterior surgical techniques. Subjects will be evaluated using Timed Up and Go (TUG), Timed Stair Climb (TSC), Hip Dysfunction and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain level estimation preoperatively, during the hospital stay, and at 2, 6 weeks, and 100 days post-discharge. Other endpoints to be evaluated include: length of stay (LOS); discharge status; transfusion rates; readmission rates; complication rates; operative time; date returned to work; and acetabular component anteversion and inclination angles.

DISCUSSION

The described study will determine the effect of a tissue-sparing surgical technique on short term subject recovery following THA in comparison to the most commonly used technique in clinical practice.