Are Hip Precautions Necessary Post Total Hip Arthroplasty? A Systematic Review

PURPOSE: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common and effective treatment of hip osteoarthritis. Activity restrictions known as hip precautions are widely practiced in rehabilitation post THA, aiming to foster healing and prevent hip dislocation. The focused clinical question was: Does the application of hip precautions in patients post THA versus unrestricted activities significantly decrease the risk of prosthetic dislocation? METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted for randomized controlled trials or cohort studies with a comparative group and minimum 6 months follow-up, with dislocation as an end point. Retrieved titles were assessed independently by 2 reviewers for inclusion and underwent standardized data extraction. RESULTS: Title search produced 80 potentially relevant articles. Five articles were retrieved for data extraction of which 2 met a prior eligibility criteria. No eligible studies were found that concerned posterior approaches to hip arthroplasty, so the results of this review concern only anterolateral approaches. Neither included study showed any benefit of hip precautions in preventing dislocation. CONCLUSION: The rate of dislocation after anterolateral THA is low and is not improved by hip precautions. Hip precautions are associated with a slower return to activities, significant expense, and decreased patient satisfaction. Existing studies risk being compromised by a type II error, but a definitive study may be prohibitively large and expensive.