Brake response time is significantly impaired after total knee arthroplasty: investigation of performing an emergency stop while driving a car.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether total knee arthroplasty (TKA) impairs the ability to perform an emergency stop.

Design: An automatic transmission brake simulator was developed to evaluate total brake response time. A prospective repeated-measures design was used.

Osteoarthritis of the knee or hip significantly impairs driving ability (cross-sectional survey).

Background: Advising patients about when they can drive after surgery is common practice after arthroplasty of the knee or hip. In the literature, the preoperative braking performance values of the patients are frequently taken as the "safe" landmark. We hypothesised that osteoarthritis (OA), the most frequent reason for arthroplasty, already compromises the ability to perform an emergency stop.