Hip osteoarthritis leads to chronic pain and deteriorated joint function, which affect weightbearing and balance during gait.
THA effectively restores hip function but it is not known whether THA restores balance during gait. We hypothesized patients
would have greater frontal plane and smaller sagittal plane center of mass-center of pressure inclination angles preoperatively
compared with control subjects, and THA would improve these inclination angles by 16 weeks postsurgery. Compared with control
subjects, we observed greater frontal plane inclination angles and smaller sagittal plane angles preoperatively, indicating
gait imbalance. These inclination angles were improved postoperatively, providing better balance control. Despite improvement,
patients differed in frontal and sagittal plane inclination angles compared with control subjects. This suggests residual
deficits in dynamic balance control in patients undergoing THA before and up to 4 months after surgery.
Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest,
patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations
were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study
was obtained.