Return to judo after joint replacement.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether judo could be practised after joint replacement.

Methods: Two hundred and twelve questionnaires were sent to Judokas licensed at the French Judo Federation, over the age of 60, with at least a black belt 6th Dan. Out of 83 responses, 38 individuals, mean age 72.8 ± 7.9 years old, had at least one implant. The survey identified 36 total hip arthroplasties (THA) in 27 patients, 10 total knee arthroplasties (TKA) in 8 patients and 3 total shoulder arthroplasties (TSA) in 3 patients. The main evaluation criterion was the return to judo after joint replacement. Secondary criteria were the level of judo after surgery, rate of surgical revision at the final follow-up and the level of patient satisfaction.

Results: Twenty-nine out of 38 patients who underwent joint replacement returned to judo practice (76.3 %) a mean 4.1 ± 2.9 months after surgery. On the other hand, all patients stopped competitive judo. The surgeon recommended 65.8 % of these patients to stop practising judo. There were 2 surgical revisions in the THA group (5.5 %) for loosening at 6 and 9 years of follow-up. No dislocations or fractures were reported at the final follow-up. Thirty-two patients (84.2 %) were satisfied with their implant.

Conclusion: The practice of judo does not seem to be limited by joint replacement. A clinical and radiological study should be performed to confirm these results.