Surgical site, gender, and place of residence influence the time to resume driving after total joint arthroplasty.
Tiberiu-Adrian Lazar, Martin Edelmann, Friedemann Awiszus and 1 others
PMID 34183073WHAT IT FOUND
Most patients resumed driving between weeks 4 and 9 after knee or hip replacement.
Men and those living in the countryside drove earlier. Right-sided knee replacements and female patients were significantly more likely to delay driving until weeks 10 to 12.
Key findings
0192.4% of participants resumed driving within the first 12 weeks, with the majority starting between weeks 4 and 9.
02Participants with left-sided surgery resumed driving significantly earlier than those with right-sided surgery.
03Female participants and those with right-sided total knee arthroplasty were identified as high-risk groups for being late drivers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted in Germany, where a mandatory three-week inpatient rehabilitation is standard. This delays discharge to weeks 4-5, meaning patients could not drive earlier even if physically ready. This limits applicability to systems without mandated inpatient rehab. The sample size was small (92 participants) and from a single centre, limiting generalisability to the wider population. The study relied on self-reported data for driving resumption and pain levels, which may be subject to recall bias. Comorbidities were not accounted for in the analysis because all participants had prior driving experience.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not apply the 4-week safety threshold generally to all patients. This timeline was heavily influenced by the German system's mandatory inpatient rehab, which prevented early discharge. Patients in other healthcare systems, or those with right-sided knee replacements or female patients with knee replacements, may need significantly longer before they are safe to drive.