Does Gait Kinematic Parameters Change as Functional Outcome Scales in Total Hip Arthroplasty Subjects after Rehabilitation?

Introduction Total hip arthroplasty (THA), is a routine, common surgical intervention;following surgery is usual practice a period of rehabilitation to recover strength, range of motion and walking ability of the operated limb. Many outcome scales (OS) have been developed to assess the improvements of the patients, but gait parameters have not been studied as possible outcome[ Research question For the statistical analysis a Student T and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were performed to test thevariation between T0 and T1. Spearman’s Rho and Pearson’s R were calculated to investigate a possible relationship between BI and MDA, with the gait analysis parameters. Results 12 subjects (4 females, 9 left hips) mean age 68±8 were included, the length of recovery was 17±6 days. Discussion Both OS and temporal and spatial GA parameters showed meaningful improvements between T0 and T1; these improvements have been clearly detected also with GA, that has rarely been performed before in such an acute phase. The correlation between the OS and the aforementioned GA parameters, may suggest a wider use of GA in this clinical context, as a useful tool to assess the function and improvements of this kind of population. In particular to tailor the rehabilitation treatment.