Patient-perceived Outcomes in Thigh Pain after Primary Arthroplasty of the Hip

Thigh pain after arthroplasty first was identified in the joint replacement literature in 1988; little information has been published about the functional status of patients who develop this complication. Eleven patients who reported thigh pain at 2 years after cementless primary total hip arthroplasty were matched with patients who did not report thigh pain on the following characteristics: age, gender, diagnosis, bone type, and surgical procedure (ie, unilateral or bilateral). Preoperative WOMAC™ function scores were different in these two groups (53.5 versus 39.7). There were no differences in SF-36 and Quality of Well Being scores in the two patient groups. There were also no differences in the WOMAC™, SF-36, and Quality of Well Being scores at the 2-year followup. However, item analysis of the WOMAC™ indicated that patients with thigh pain were more likely to report at least some functional deficit relative to patients without thigh pain at the 2-year followup. Thigh pain does not seem to affect 2-year postoperative quality of life severely in patients who have had cementless hip arthroplasties with a tapered stem design. Selected functional activities will be impacted by the presence of thigh pain.

Level of Evidence: Prognostic study, Level III (case-control study). See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.