title: How long should patients be followed-up after total hip replacement? Current practice in the UK.
abstract: Some 1000 postcard questionnaires were sent to Fellows of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) to establish current follow-up practice of primary total hip replacement (THR) patients. For cemented THRs, 50% of surgeons saw their patients for under 1 year, 78% under 5 years with indefinite follow-up being performed by 14%. There was significantly more follow-up of uncemented and hybrid prostheses with the proportions being 25%, 56% and 30% respectively (chi 2, P < 0.0001). This study has revealed a wide variation in practice between individual surgeons and has shown over one-third of surgeons feel they are prevented from performing as much follow-up as they would wish by the availability of clinic resources. Higher follow-up rates of uncemented components may reflect a lack of confidence in their long-term performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Barnet General Hospital, Hertfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bankes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coull
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Ferris
mesh_terms: D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000379:methods; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001843:Bone Cements; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements