Early rehabilitation comparing hip resurfacing and total hip replacement

Hip resurfacing arthroplasty (RS) is said to be an operation that is suitable for the younger osteoarthritic population, allowing them to rehabilitate more rapidly. We wished to establish whether this was true and compared 35 consecutive RS (33 patients) with 41 consecutive total hip replacements (THR) (40 patients) and looked specifically at postoperative pain, speed of rehabilitation and length of hospital stay. A rehabilitation score was used. RS patients were significantly younger than THR patients (mean 53.0 years for RS, 64.7 years for THR; p<0.0001). However, no significant difference was found in the mean rehabilitation score at any stage after surgery or in the speed of rehabilitation between the two groups. Neither postoperative pain nor the length of hospitalisation was significantly different between the two groups. We conclude that resurfacing arthroplasty has no evidence of an advantage over total hip replacement in the speed of postoperative rehabilitation.