Sleep improvement after hip arthroplasty: a study on short-stem prosthesis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate sleep disturbance prospectively before and after short-stem hip arthroplasty. METHODS: A prospective study on 25 patients undergoing a primary unilateral total short-stem hip replacement was conducted. Patients were observed for six months. To evaluate the sleep quality and daytime sleepiness, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale were used. To assess the general physical health status, we used the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). Pain was recorded on a visual analog scale. RESULTS: The physical health status of the patients improved significantly (p < 0.05) during the six month follow-up period in seven out of nine categories. During the first post-operative week, the sleep quality stayed on an equal level to the pre-operative state, following a steady improvement over the next months (6 months p = 0.00). The daytime sleepiness showed a significant improvement during all the follow-ups (6 months p = 0.00). Pain decreased significantly from baseline to six months post-operatively (p = 0.00). There was no correlation between pain and sleep quality or pain and daytime sleepiness. CONCLUSION: According to our results, patients undergoing short-stem total hip arthroplasty can expect a 50% improvement of sleep quality and physical function six months after surgery.