title: The effect of total hip arthroplasty surgical approach on postoperative gait mechanics.
abstract: Surgical approach for total hip arthroplasty (THA) is determined by clinician preference from limited prospective data. This study aimed to examine the effect of surgical approach (direct lateral, posterior, and anterolateral) on 6-week postoperative gait mechanics. Thirty-five patients (direct lateral, 8; posterior, 12; anterolateral, 15) were tested preoperatively and 6 weeks after THA. Patients underwent a gait analysis at a self-selected walking speed. A 2-way analysis of variance was used for analysis. Stride length, step length, peak hip extension, and walking speed increased after THA. The 3 surgical approach variables were not significantly different for any of the study variables after THA. All patients showed some increase in selected variables after THA regardless of surgical approach. In this study, surgical approach did not appear to significantly influence the early postoperative gait mechanics that were quantified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Robin M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Queen
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Tyler S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Watters
authors.forename: Scott S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Attarian
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Bolognesi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000379:methods*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000601:surgery; D011184:Postoperative Period; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome