Description

The causes for total hip arthroplasty (THA) in Taiwan include ischemic necrosis of the femoral head and degenerative osteoarthritis. Although patients experience significant improvements in pain relief, quality of life, and physical function after the procedure, the long-term follow-up studies have found residual deficits in hip abductor muscle strength, balance function, and gait, which may result in a fear of falling or related issues. Contemporary, the surgical approach for total hip replacement mostly adopts the lateral approach. However, the direct anterior approach (DAA) has gained attention gradually due to its characteristics such as muscle preservation, small surgical incision length, and few surgical complications. Nevertheless, literature lacks detailed exploration or long-term follow-up on the recovery of physical functions related to fall occurrence, such as muscle strength and gait deviations, after this type of surgery. It limits the establishment and design of suitable post-operative rehabilitation plans. Therefore, this study aims to explore and follow-up the functional recovery in patients who undergo the DAA for hip replacement using current usual care and new-designed accelerated rehabilitation program. This study will explore the recovery in muscle strength, balance function, and gait performance of the patients before and at different postoperative time points, and also compare the differences between two groups who receive different rehabilitation programs. The proposed method involves recruiting 30 patients who will undergo the DAA for total hip replacement, who will receive the current usual care plan; and another 30 patients will receive the accelerated rehabilitation program. The assessments will be conducted before the surgery and at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the operation, evaluating hip joint function, hip abduction and flexion muscle strength, balance function, and gait performance. The statistical analysis will utilize mixed-model two-factor ANOVA, comparing the preoperative and postoperative recovery of patients undergoing the DAA with different intervention programs and at different time points. The expected outcome of this study is to enhance the understanding of the functional recovery of patients undergoing the DAA for total hip replacement in terms of hip joint function, muscle strength, balance function, and gait performance after surgery. This information will help establish the targeted DAA postoperative treatment plans, which will be practically applied to patients and compared with the current usual care to assess its effectiveness, ultimately contributing to more efficient rehabilitation plans in the future.