Safe to drive two weeks after hip-replacement surgery, US experts claim

Advances in surgery, pain management and rehabilitation mean that people who have a total hip replacement may be able to safely drive as early as two weeks after surgery, according to research presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Previous studies, conducted over a decade ago, recommended between six and eight weeks of recovery before driving. But since then, improvements in surgical treatment and care may have shortened this time frame, allowing people to get back to work and resume daily activities more quickly.
So experts evaluated 38 people who had total hip replacement of the right hip between 2013 and 2014. Driving performance was evaluated using the brake reaction test (BRT), which measures brake time reaction after a stimulus. Everyone had a preoperative assessment to establish a baseline reaction time and then agreed to be retested at two, four and six weeks after surgery. Patients were allowed to drive when their postoperative reaction time was equal to or less than their preoperative baseline reaction time. At each testing session people were asked if they felt ready to drive again.
Of the 38 patients, 33 (87%) reached their baseline time within two weeks. The remaining patients (13%) reached their baseline at four weeks. Other findings were:
• Age, gender and the use of assistance devices had no impact on driving readiness.
• Of the 33 patients who tested ready to drive at two weeks, 24 (73%) said they felt ready to drive while five (15%) were not sure. Four patients (12%) said they did not feel ready to drive.
• Of the five patients who returned to driving at four weeks, three agreed that they were not able to drive at the two-week mark, and the other two thought they were able to drive by two weeks.
“We found that brake reaction time returned to baseline or better in the vast majority of patients undergoing contemporary total hip replacement by two weeks following surgery, and all patients achieved a safe brake reaction time according to nationally recognized guidelines,” says Dr Victor Hugo Hernandez, lead study author.
It should be remembered, however, that the findings are based on a small number of people. And it isn’t safe to drive if you’re taking narcotic pain medication!

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Image credit: Ben Coombs