title: Golf after total knee arthroplasty: do patients return to walking the course?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Golf provides an opportunity for relatively low-impact exercise for nearly all age groups and is considered a recommended activity for patients after total knee arthroplasty.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We hypothesized that total knee arthroplasty would afford patients increased ability to participate in and enjoy golf, allowing a large percentage of these patients to walk the golf course.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series; Level of evidence, 4.
  
  
  METHODS
  Surveys were sent to 151 golfers who had undergone primary total knee arthroplasty from 1995 to 2000. The detailed survey included 33 questions specific to the patients' golf performance, enjoyment of golf, frequency of participation, timing of return to play, presence of pain, use of a cart, and related golf-specific issues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We received and evaluated 93 responses (62%). Fifty-seven percent reported they had returned to golf within 6 months after total knee arthroplasty. Eighty-one percent of respondents reported golfing as frequently, or more frequently, than before knee replacement. Notably, golfers reported less pain while golfing after total knee arthroplasty than before (13% vs 83%; P < .0001), and 94% of respondents reported currently enjoying golf as much as or more than before surgery. Twenty-eight percent of respondents stated that they walked the course, rather than using a motorized golf cart, before surgery, while only 14% walked the course after surgery (P = .02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this population of golfers, total knee arthroplasty reliably relieved pain that had been previously experienced while golfing, and increased or maintained this group's enjoyment of playing golf. However, 86% of these patients reported using a cart while golfing. Further patient education is needed regarding the potential health benefits of walking during golf after total knee arthroplasty.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jay P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
authors.forename: Diane L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Dahm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006055:Golf / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*