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Updated: Sep 20, 2026
Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty
Published on: July 5, 2011
Recovery after total hip joint arthroplasty in elderly patients with osteoarthritis: positive effect of upper limb
Jérôme Maire1, Benoit Dugué, Anne-Françoise Faillenet-Maire
1Laboratoire des Sciences du Sport, UFRSTAPS, Bâtiment Bichat, Besançon, France. jemaire@hotmail.com
Objective:
To evaluate the influence of an interval training program for the upper limbs on cardiorespiratory fitness and walking ability in elderly patients after total hip joint arthroplasty.
Design:
A randomized controlled trial. After surgery, control and training groups started general rehabilitation. Training group combined it with an arm-interval exercise program (3 sessions of 30 minutes per week, for 6 weeks).
Subjects:
Patients were assigned randomly to control (n = 7) and training groups (n = 7).
Methods:
Incremental exercise tests were carried out until exhaustion on an arm crank ergometer 1 month before and 2 months after surgery. A 6-minute walk test was also performed 2 months after surgery.
Results:
VO2 peak increased significantly in the training group (p = 0.0424) and did not change in the control group. The difference in VO2 peak change between the groups was significant (p = 0.0362, +19.2% in the training group and -3.5% in the control group). In the walking test the training group covered a significantly longer distance than did the control group (p = 0.0055, 396.4 metres and 268.1 metres, respectively).
Conclusion:
These results stress the importance of physical training in a rehabilitation program after total hip joint arthroplasty and this should be considered for improving the current practices in rehabilitation.