OBJECTIVES: One of the determining factors for the success of total hip arthroplasty is the rate of postoperative complications. The aim of our study is to compare the complication rates in the early postoperative period in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty by different surgical approaches.

METHODS: Patients were selected by simple convenience sampling technique from the Department of Orthopedics Clinical Centre of the University of Pécs and the Da Vinci Private Clinic (Pécs, Hungary). Patients were operated in anterolateral and anterior surgical approaches. In the early post-operative period (6th week), we evaluated the patients' complication rates, rates of re-admission to the doctor, rates of new hospital admissions and their causes.

RESULTS:

A total of 338 patients participated in our study (155 male, 183 female, mean age: 65.70 years). Among them 177 patients were operated by anterior approach and 161 patients by anterolateral approach. There was no difference in the postoperative complication rate between patients operated with different surgical approaches (anterior: 14.12%; anterolateral: 13.66%; p=0.903). Readmission to the doctor (10.56% vs 6.78%, p=0.262) and new hospital admission rates (3.11% vs 1.69%, p=0.394) were higher in patients operated with anterolateral approach, but these results were not statistically significant. The most common causes included dislocation, fracture, anemia, wound inflammation, wound exudation, numbness, swelling, fever and blood pressure problems.

CONCLUSIONS: The anterior versus anterolateral surgical approach showed no significant difference in terms of complication rate in the early postoperative period after total hip arthroplasty.