Surfing After Hip Resurfacing Surgery

Abstract

Objective: There is no information about surfing after hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA). We did a retrospective study aiming to evaluate the safety and feasibility to resume surfing—an extreme sport with high-impact physical activity—after HRA. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Specialist Orthopaedic Group, Mater Hospital Sydney, NSW, Australia. Patients: We evaluated 45 patients who practiced surfing before the onset of pain and hip surgery. Complete clinical and radiographical follow-up and a completed questionnaire were available for 37 (82%) patients. Interventions: Hip resurfacing arthroplasty. Main outcome measures: Postel-Merle d'Aubigne score, the Oxford hip score, the Harris hip score, and the University of California at Los Angeles activity score. Radiographical evaluation at 6 weeks, 3, and 12 months after surgery and yearly thereafter. Return to surf rates using a specific questionnaire. Complications and failures during follow-up. Results: All clinical scores improved significantly after HRA. Eight of 37 (22%) patients stopped surfing after their HRA. More than 80% of patients commenced surfing within the first 6 months after surgery. During surfing, 21 patients (72%) were completely pain free. Conclusion: No literature exists regarding the return to a high-impact sport as surfing after HRA. Most of our patients (71%) were able to return at least to their preoperative level of surfing after surgery. No complications related to this sport activity were observed during short-term follow-up. We believe that surfing is compatible with HRA, but long-term studies are necessary to assess the influence of this extreme sport on loosening and revision rates.