Balance in Patients With Ectopic Bone Tissue After Total Hip Replacement

Plain-language summary

One of the typical complications which occurs after total hip replacement (THR) procedure is heterotopic ossification (HO). According to current studies abnormal formation of bone after trauma or replacement of the hip could reach even 90% of cases. Heterotopic ossifications are causing the following symptoms, such as: pain, swelling, erythema and warmth along with joint immobility. Those factors could have an impact on maintaining the posture, especially in patients after THR. It is well known since the 90s that the risk of fall among the population older than 65 is high. Data shows that over 30% of those people have such an incident at least once in a year. Majority of them do not have further consequences, however about 10% result in serious trauma to the head and musculoskeletal system. Falls of people who underwent THR are sometimes connected with periprosthetic fractures, which treatment is much more complicated and is associated with a higher risk of failure than treatment of ordinary fractures of the lower limb. What may even worsen the situation is that elderly people very often suffer from many diseases including osteoporosis or neoplasm which increase the risk of fracture. The rate of falls is even higher among patients hospitalised from hip fractures. In the first month after returning home about 14% of patients fall. During the 6 month period after hospitalisation it reaches 53%. So far, the influence of heterotopic ossifications on the risk of falls is unknown in the literature.

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