Sport after total hip arthroplasty.

Up to now, sporting activity after total hip arthroplasty has been limited or terminated completely because of the risk of failure. In the case of younger patients, it is desirable to know whether this attitude is justified. Consequently, an analysis has been made of 110 patients (all male, average age at the time of the operation 55 years, 42 bilateral). Sport was practised in 78 and 56% of the cases prior to an after the operation respectively. The patients with intense sporting activity were examined and the findings compared with those who did not participate in a sporting activity after the operation. The incidence of replacement due to loosening is surprisingly higher among the group of patients with no sporting activity (14.3% to 1.6%). In the light of these findings, there is no need to prohibit sport in these cases. To allow for a gradual resumption of sport, guidelines have been elaborated on the basis of present-day knowledge of quantitative and qualitative hip strain. The short load peaks appearing as the heel touches the ground on walking or running will be attenuated by means of a viscoelastic heel pad.