Does the duration to bipolar hip arthroplasty for femoral neck fracture influence on postoperative muscular strength?

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative muscular strength and functional performance between early versus late bipolar hip arthroplasty (BHA) intervention for femoral neck fracture classified by the duration from the onset to surgery. Twenty-one patients who could walk at 12months or more after BHA were enrolled into this study. We examined the muscular strength of hip flexion, extension, abduction, and knee extension of these patients. Time of one-leg standing, timed up and go test, pain grade by visual analog scale, and Barthel index were also evaluated as functional indices. We classified these patients into two groups by the duration from the onset to surgery, namely: within 3days until BHA (early OP) and more than 4days (late OP) to compare these indices at the latest follow-up. The mean days until operation were 2.3days in the early-OP group and 5.9days in the late-OP group, showing a significant difference between the two groups. Muscular strength and other functional indices were also found to have no significant differences between these two groups. Our study suggests that the delay to operate might not severely compromise the muscular strength around the hip joint for least 1.5years among ambulatory patients.