Postoperative rehabilitation considerations after total hip replacement

  The purpose of rehabilitation exercise: to enable patients to recover physical and psychological functions as soon as possible to adapt to the living environment and improve the quality of life.  Patients should follow the principles of safety, stability and gradual progress. The patient’s surgery is posterior approach, so avoid inversion and internal rotation of the hip joint (avoid knee over the midline of the body, “stilted leg”); avoid hip flexion over 90° (avoid knee elevation over the waist level, “squatting”); avoid cross-legged. To avoid the possibility of hip dislocation.  1. Avoid knee joint over the midline of the body.  When sitting, avoid “stretched legs” and putting the affected lower limb on the other leg.  2. Avoid lying on your side without a pillow between your knees.  Do not bend the knee joint inward when lying down.  3.Avoid raising the knee joint above the waist level.  Use sitting toilets instead of squatting toilets. Do not sit on chairs and sofas that are too low, avoid making the hip joint flexion more than 90°, and if you must sit on a low chair, first straighten the leg of the joint replacement.  4.Avoid cross-legged.  Do not cross your legs when sitting. Do not make the knee joint fall outward in the bent knee position when lying down.  5. Avoid heavy physical activities and participation in strenuous sports activities (such as jumping) to prolong the life of the prosthesis and reduce the occurrence of postoperative joint dislocation and fracture.  Weight-bearing principle of the affected limb: it is best to start with 1/3 of the weight of the operated side of the lower limb, and then slowly and gradually increase the weight after stabilization (the maximum weight-bearing of the affected limb should not exceed 1/2 of the weight for the first time).