Safety of pregnancy and delivery after total hip arthroplasty

Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is performed on young as well as older patients. Women in particular, because of a higher incidence of congenital hip dislocation, often undergo THA during the reproductive years. Methods: We surveyed 143 women with THA regarding pregnancy and childbirth after surgery. Their mean age at surgery was 34.4 years; the mean follow-up period was 6.4 years. Results: Fourteen of 143 women (10%) had a successful pregnancy after THA; 19 infants were born. The infants were delivered vaginally in only 1 case and by cesarean section in the remaining 13. Pregnancy was normal for all of them. The mean weight gain was 12.3 kg, and the mean weight of the babies at birth was 2.870 kg for females and 3.110 kg for males. Sixty-three percent of the infants were breastfed for 10 months. One woman of the 14 of the mother group (7.1%) and 8 of the 144 of the nonmother group (5.6%) underwent prosthesis revision. The difference is not statistically significant. Conclusions: After adjusting for age and diagnosis, Cox's proportional hazards analysis confirmed that pregnancy and childbirth do not represent risk factors for THA survival.