Total hip arthroplasty: guidelines for proper preoperative patient preparation

Total hip arthroplasty (TΗA) is a common surgery performed to relieve pain and improve function in people with advanced hip arthritis. Patients’ preoperative preparation and postoperative rehabilitation capabilities should be optimized prior to surgery. Preoperative preparation helps patients to deal with and/or avoid any health complications, before ΤΗΑ. Training in new movement patterns, in-pool exercise, as well as resistance training do reduce preoperative pain. Through preoperative physical therapy, patients' goals and expectations are redefined and, at the same time, as they get aware of their postoperative prognosis, manage to reduce their anxiety. In addition, preoperative physiotherapy achieves a reduction in the length of hospital stay, minimizing this way the possibility of early postoperative complications. Preoperative physiotherapy appears to be a realistic and safe form of rehabilitation, which improves patients’ both pain and function, prior to THA. In fact, through this procedure, the length of hospital stay is reduced, limiting down the possibility of undesirable complications.

Keywords: total hip arthroplasty, Preoperative preparation, physiotherapy