Partial Weight Bearing: Long-term monitoring of load in patients with a total hip arthroplasty during postoperative recovery

Partial weight bearing (PWB) is a central aspect within the postoperative physical therapy of orthopedic and trauma patients with pathologies of the lower extremity. Restriction in weight bearing of the operated leg during standing and walking is needed to avoid complications during the postoperative recovery. The task of the physical therapist (PT) is to instruct the patient how to unload the lower extremity during recovery, so that the patient can safely and independently perform activities of daily living. Restriction of the amount of load on the operated leg not only has to take place during the relatively short supervision periods with the PT, but also during the longer and, therefore, more relevant recovery periods without supervision during the hospital stay as well as after discharge. Although PWB is commonly used, few data are available on the assessment of actual load on the operated leg of the patient during activities of daily living. One reason for this could be the lack of valid and reliable portable instruments which can objectively measure the amount of weight bearing over a period of several hours. In this thesis the PWB performance of total hip patients with a trochanteric osteotomy is evaluated during their postoperative recovery. For this, a portable insole pressure system was adapted and validated to measure the vertical ground reaction force both in and outside the hospital setting.

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