Quality of Life after Total Knee and Total Hip Replacement

ABSTRACT

We reviewed 40 consecutive patients having a primary total hip replacement(THR) and 60 patients having a primary total knee replacement(TKR) for osteoarthritis to compare the qu;dity of hfe(QoL) before and after operation. Bilateral arthroplasties were perfomed 10 cases of THR and 25 cemes of TKR. We used a modified Harris hip score and a knee score of American knee society, the Rosser Lndex Matrix and authors eval- uation system to generate these scores. Quality of life was highly improved by Rossers and authors evalua- tion system after THR and TKR. The median values of QoL scores before and after operation were signifi- cantly different(petter than in TKR. Postoperative QoL scores for both groups were similar. Quality of life evaluated by Rossers score and authors evaluation system in bilateral THR was better than bilateral TKR. We think better quality of life in bilateral THR over bilateral TKR by authors evaluation system is because the hip joint is mcire stable and has better range of motion than knee joint. We conclude that change of life style including the use of bed, toilet seat elevation, and the use of dinning table will be neccesary after bilateral TKR.