PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS AFTER TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT

Return to regular sports activity was evaluated in a retrospective rev iew of 160 patients who had undergone total knee replacement surgery b y a single surgeon (208 knee replacements). Mean age of the patients w as 68 years (range, 27 to 87) at surgery and 73 years (range, 33 to 91 ) at review at a mean follow-up of 5 years (range, 3 to 7), Seventy-ni ne patients regularly participated in sports, at least once per week, before surgery, and 51 patients regularly participated in sports after surgery. Only eight patients took up sports after surgery who were no t regularly involved such as bowls (29 of 32, or 91%) than to high-imp act activities such as tennis (6 of 30, or 20% returned). Forty-three of 56 patients (77%) who had participated in regular exercise in the y ear before surgery returned to sports. Eighty patients did not partici pate in sports before surgery and 54 of these had coexisting disease t hat prevented sports. None of these patients returned to sports.