Return to Driving After Hip Arthroscopy.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate patients' braking performance using a modern driving simulator after undergoing a right hip arthroscopy.

DESIGN: This prospective study included 5 total driving sessions at which measurements were taken.

SETTING: The study was conducted at an academic medical center.

PATIENTS: A total of 14 patients scheduled to undergo a right hip arthroscopy were enrolled and compared with a control group of 17 participants to account for a potential learning phenomenon.

INTERVENTIONS: Patients drove in the simulator preoperatively to establish a baseline, and then drove again at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks postoperatively. The control group did not undergo any type of surgical procedure. The main independent variable was time from surgery.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A modern driving simulator was used to measure initial reaction time (IRT), throttle release time (TRT), foot movement time (FMT), and brake travel time (BTT). The braking reaction time (BRT) was calculated as the sum of IRT + TRT + FMT, and the total braking time (TBT) was calculated as the sum of BRT + BTT.

RESULTS: The experimental group showed no significant changes in BTT (P = 0.11, (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.04) nor TBT (P = 0.20, (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.03) over the duration of 8 weeks. Although the experimental group did exhibit significant improvements in IRT (P = 0.002), TRT (P < 0.0001), FMT (P < 0.0001), and BRT (P = 0.0002) between preoperative and 2 weeks postoperative driving sessions, there were no significant changes thereafter. The mean preoperative TBT and 2 weeks postoperative TBT for the experimental group were 3.07 seconds (SD = 0.50) and 2.97 seconds (SD = 0.57), respectively. No learning phenomenon was observed in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: This study's findings suggest that patients may return to driving 2 weeks postoperatively from a right-sided hip arthroscopy procedure.