Do patients lose weight after total hip arthroplasty?()()

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of total hip arthroplasty (THA) on body mass index (BMI), from before to after the operation. METHODS: 100 patients who underwent THA were retrospectively analyzed. They were stratified according to BMI, as proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). RESULTS: There were 48 male patients and 52 female patients. Their mean age was 63.8 ± 13.5 years. The mean follow-up was 24.6 ± 0.6 months. The men had a mean preoperative BMI of 28.4 ± 3.6 kg/m(2) and the women, 27.5 ± 5.0 kg/m(2). The mean postoperative BMI was 28.9 ± 0.7 kg/m(2) for the men and 27.8 ± 0.7 kg/m(2) for the women. There was a general mean increase in BMI of 0.4 kg/m(2). The BMI increased both in patients with normal weight and in those who were overweight, but it decreased slightly in patients who were obese. BMI remained unchanged in the majority of the patients (73%). CONCLUSION: The improvement in mobility achieved through THA did not promote any reduction in anthropometric measurements in the majority of the patients.