Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different surgical positions on perioperative clinical results after total hip arthroplasty (THA).
Methods: Our institution started performing THA with the patient in the supine position in September 2005. The subjects of the current study were 120 patients who underwent THA from 2006 to 2008. In total, 73 patients underwent THA in the supine position (group A), and 47 patients underwent THA the lateral position (group B). We investigated the operative time, intraoperative blood loss, duration of hospitalization after surgery and chest radiographs taken just after THA in each group.
Results: The operative time in group B was shorter than that in group A (p < 0.05). The amount of intraoperative blood loss in group A was larger than that in group B (p < 0.01). However, both the operative time and intraoperative blood loss decreased year on year. In 2008, there were no significant differences in operative time or intraoperative blood loss between the two groups. In a comparison of chest radiographs taken just after the operation, abnormal findings were found in 23.3% of patients in group A and in 70.2% of patients in group B.
Conclusion: With regard to achieving low intraoperative blood loss and operative time, surgeons need some experience in performing THA on patients in the supine position. However, chest radiographs taken just after THA showed many more abnormal findings when patients were operated on in the lateral position. Therefore, THA in the supine position might be safer for patients who have cardiopulmonary complications.
