Evaluating Return to Sports Following Total Hip Arthoplasty With Custom Stems in Professional and Recreational Table Tennis Players.

Background: Table tennis players execute short explosive movements, along with continuous hip flexion, abduction, and rotation, increasing their risk of injury. Previous studies reported a rate of return to sports (RTS) of 20% to 80% in athletes following total hip arthroplasty (THA). There are no studies reporting RTS in table tennis players following THA.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes and RTS following custom THA in professional, ex-professional, and recreational table tennis players.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: Patients who underwent primary THA between April 2013 and January 2022 were retrospectively reviewed (n = 2977). Table tennis players of any level that received a custom femoral stem were included in the study (N = 17). At a minimum follow-up of 2 years, all players were assessed using the Oxford Hip Score (OHS), Forgotten Joint Score (FJS), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score, as well as with a sports-specific questionnaire that included questions related to their table tennis practice. Descriptive statistics, including medians and interquartile ranges, were used to summarize the data.

Results: All 17 players (22 hips) were available at ≥2 years, of which 3 were professional (5 hips), 4 were ex-professional (6 hips), and 10 were recreational (11 hips). The median OHS was 44.0 (IQR, 44.0-48.0) in professional, 48.0 (IQR, 48.0-48.0) in ex-professional, and 48.0 (IQR, 45.0-48.0) in recreational players. The median FJS was 92.0 (IQR, 88.0-98.0) in professional, 98.0 (IQR, 98.0-98.0) in ex-professional, and 100.0 (IQR, 93.0-100.0) in recreational players. The median UCLA activity score was 10.0 (IQR, 9.0-10.0) in professional, 9.0 (IQR, 9.0-9.8) in ex-professional, and 8.0 (IQR, 5.5-9.0) in recreational players. The rate of RTS was 100% for professional and ex-professional players, and 80% for recreational players. The hours played before onset of symptoms was higher than following surgery for professional (30.0 [IQR, 25.0-30.0] vs 20.0 [IQR, 16.0-22.5] h/week) and ex-professional players (19.5 [IQR, 11.0-29.3] vs 3.0 [IQR, 2.0-5.5] h/week), while it was constant for recreational players (4.0 [IQR, 2.3-4.0] vs 4.0 [IQR, 3.8-4.5] h/week).

Conclusion: Our retrospective analysis demonstrated that at a minimum follow-up of 2 years THA using custom stems provided good to excellent clinical outcomes in professional, ex-professional, and recreational table tennis players. All professional and ex-professional players, as well as 80% of recreational players, were able to return to play table tennis, although both professional and ex-professional players reduced their number of hours of play compared with before surgery. These findings could be used to help set expectations for table tennis players who are scheduled to undergo THA.