Does Focused Gluteus Medius Muscle Stretching After Total Hip Arthroplasty Work? An Electromyographic Study

The hypothesis of this randomized prospective study was that focused stretching of the gluteus medius muscle, in addition to generalized physical therapy, is likely to improve muscle reaction time and positively impact the return to function of the patient after primary total hip arthroplasty.

We prospectively recruited 28 patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty from January 2021 to January 2023. The control group (13 patients) received a conventional rehabilitation protocol, while the intervention group (15 patients) received focused stretching exercises of the gluteus medius muscle in addition to the conventional rehabilitation protocol. Patients had preoperative and postoperative surface electromyography (sEMG) to assess muscle activity.

Patients in the intervention group after surgery had better muscle activation according to sEMG during walking and during one leg stance compared to the control group. Also, patients from the intervention group had better strength of the gluteus medius muscle after surgery, but this did not reach statistical significance.

The present prospective study demonstrated that implementation of focused gluteus medius muscle stretching results in statistically significantly higher muscle activation as measured by sEMG. The strength of the gluteus medius muscle is also higher as measured using a dynamometer, albeit not reaching statistical significance. Based on the findings of this sEMG study, it appears that focused stretching and strengthening of abductors muscles are beneficial.