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To assess the potential recovery rate of a minimally invasive total hip replacement technique with minimal soft tissue disruption, an accelerated rehabilitation protocol was implemented with weightbearing as tolerated on the day of surgery. One hundred consecutive patients were enrolled in this prospective study. Ninety-seven patients (97%) met all the inpatient physical therapy goals required for discharge to home on the day of surgery; 100% of patients achieved these goals within 23 hours of surgery. Outpatient therapy was initiated in 9% of patients immediately, 62% of patients by 1 week, and all patients by 2 weeks. The mean time to discontinued use of crutches, discontinued use of narcotic pain medications, and resumed driving was 6 days postoperatively. The mean time to return to work was 8 days, discontinued use of any assistive device was 9 days, and resumption of all activities of daily living was 10 days. The mean time to walk (1/2) mile was 16 days. Furthermore, there were no readmissions, no dislocations, and no reoperations. Therefore, a rapid rehabilitation protocol is safe and fulfills the potential benefits of a rapid recovery with minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty.
Berger et al. (2004) studied this question.