The Latest Greatest Findings on Hip Replacements

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3865486/Hip-ops-fail-make-patients-mobile.html (Hip ops 'fail to make patients more mobile' | Daily Mail Online)


Hip ops 'fail to make patients more mobile': £10,000 replacement procedures do not encourage recipients to take up exercise

• The costly procedures are mainly aimed at relieving pain
• Around 50,000 replacements are carried out by the NHS every year
• Research was undertaken by the University of East Anglia

By SOPHIE BORLAND HEALTH EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 18:42 EST, 23 October 2016 | UPDATED: 18:42 EST, 23 October 201
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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 as they are mainly carried out to relieve pain.




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A study involving more than 1,000 men and women found the operations did not encourage them to walk or take up exercise

Around 50,000 hip replacements are carried out on the NHS each year and they are one of the most commonly performed procedures.

They cost around £10,000 a time and are mostly offered to those with arthritis who are in severe pain and immobile.

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.

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Tom Withers, a researcher at the UEA’s School of Health Sciences, said: ‘The most common reason for a hip replacement is to reduce pain on movement.

‘We expected the amount of physical activity post-surgery would therefore increase. What we found surprised us. We found there was no clear evidence of a change in physical activity following surgery.’

He added: ‘The benefits of regular physical activity following a hip replacement are well known, so this research is important for healthcare professionals because it suggests patients need to be encouraged to be more physically active.’

Toby Smith, a lecturer in physiotherapy at the university, said: ‘There is a need for… further investigation into how other personal characteristics or pre-existing conditions might influence the results.

‘Healthcare professionals and researchers need to better understand this lack of change and how patients’ perceptions of physical activity might be modified to increase their engagement in physical activity post-operatively.’




Eamonn and Ruth Holmes at the King Edward VII Hospital, London, days after Eamonn underwent surgery for a double hip replacement operation earlier this year

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 health organisations to restrict them further.

They are meant to last 15 years and relieve pain while improving movement. The procedure is most commonly performed on adults with osteoarthritis, where the joints become very painful and stiff. Olivia Belle, of the charity 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 for years, waiting for surgery.

‘But joint replacement alone is not enough. People undergoing surgery must have access to physiotherapy and support to do exercises which help the joint.

‘But more than anything, we need earlier diagnosis and better treatments for osteoarthritis, so waiting in pain for a joint replacement is not the only option.’

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