Sports activities before and after medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty using the new Heidelberg Sports Activity Score.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to investigate the change of sports activities before and after medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) with the use of the Heidelberg Sports Activity Score (HAS). METHODS: The Heidelberg Sports Activity Score (HAS) as well as FFb-H-OA, Oxford-12-Score, Tegner, UCLA and ACS were carried out to assess sports activities in 157 patients with medial osteoarthritis of the knee joint before and after UKA. The newly developed HAS also records the important duration and the sporting activity. RESULTS: Patients practiced sports in a more deliberate manner after UKA. Hiking, cycling and swimming were the sports most increased after surgery. Patients ≤65 years of age were sportier than those >65 years. Men were sportier than women, but all became sportier postoperatively. Patients with a high body mass index (BMI) are less sporty at first, but then increase their sports activity after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: HAS is an effective and valid assessment scale for evaluating sports activities before and after knee replacement.