Hip ops ‘fail to improve patient mobility’
HIP replacements make little difference to patients’ mobility, research shows.
A study involving more than 1,000 men and women found the operations did not encourage them to walk or take up exercise.
The research by the University of East Anglia is the first to assess whether the surgery improves physical activity.
But campaigners say the findings do not mean the operations are a waste of time and money.
Olivia Belle, of Arthritis Research UK, said: ‘Hip-replacement surgery is an essential treatment and a lifeline for thousands with osteoarthritis who have often been living in pain.’
About 50,000 hip replacements – at an estimated cost of £10,000 a time – are carried out on the NHS each year. Researchers looked at six previous studies on hip replacements that included data on 1,030 men and women.
They compared how often and fast they walked and whether they climbed stairs or cycled before and after surgery.
The results, published in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, showed they did not walk further or faster, or take up cycling or other forms of exercise. Researchers say patients need to undergo physiotherapy after hip replacements to encourage them to be more mobile.
Tom Withers, a researcher at the UEA’s School of Health Sciences, said: ‘We found there was no clear evidence of a change in physical activity following surgery. The benefits of regular physical activity following a hip replacement are well known, so this research... suggests patients need to be encouraged to be more physically active.’
Toby Smith, a lecturer in physiotherapy at UAE, said there was a need for ‘investigation into how other personal characteristics or preexisting conditions might influence the results’.
To carry out a hip replacement, surgeons remove the inflamed joint and replace it with an artificial implant made of metal or ceramic.
But they are increasingly rationed by NHS trusts and offered only to those in severe pain with limited mobility. Research suggesting they may offer limited benefit to movement may encourage restricting them further.