PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS AFTER HIP AND KNEE ARTHROPLASTY - REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND SURVEY OF SURGEON PREFERENCES

Objective: To summarize previously published findings and to present t he opinion of a group of reconstructive orthopedic surgeons from a sin gle institution on participation in sports after hip or knee arthropla sty. Design: We reviewed the literature pertaining to participation in sports after hip or knee arthroplasty and surveyed a group of orthope dic surgeons about their recommendations for resumption of various spo rts activities by patients who had undergone total hip or knee arthrop lasty. Material and Methods: A computerized literature search was perf ormed, and salient issues about participation in sports after joint re placement procedures were synthesized. At the Mayo Clinic, 28 orthoped ic surgeons (13 consultants and 15 fellows or residents) completed a s ingle-page questionnaire that requested a recommendation (''yes,'' ''n o,'' or ''depends'') about patients resuming participation in 28 commo n sports after recovery from total hip or knee arthroplasty. Staff sur geon responses were compared with responses from fellows and residents by using the Mann-Whitney U test. Sports in which 75% of surgeons wou ld not allow participation were identified as ''not recommended,'' whe reas sports in which 75% of surgeons would allow participation were la beled as ''recommended.'' Results: Fellows and residents were less lik ely than staff surgeons to allow return to cross-country skiing after total knee arthroplasty. Otherwise, responses from consultant surgeons and from fellows and residents did not differ significantly. Recommen ded sports included sailing, swimming laps, scuba diving, cycling, gol fing, and bowling after hip and knee replacement procedures and also c ross-country skiing after knee arthroplasty. Sports not recommended af ter hip or knee arthroplasty were running, waterskiing, football, base ball, basketball, hockey, handball, karate, soccer, and racquetball. C onclusion: After hip or knee arthroplasty, participation in no-impact or low-impact sports can be encouraged, but participation in high-impa ct sports should be prohibited.