The ability to participate in sports after hip arthroplasty is increasingly being requested by patients. The possibilities of participating in sports such as judo after hip arthroplasty have not been explored sufficiently even though these sports are associated with a high risk of loosening, dislocation or revision. The aim of this study was to evaluate the return to judo after hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA) in terms of time and level of practice in an expert population and to determine the surgical complication rate.

This was a retrospective observational study of all licensed judo practitioners at an expert level (≥black belt 3rd Dan) who underwent HRA. Patients filled out a sport-specific questionnaire that captured their level of judo practice (international, national, regional, recreational), type of practice (teaching, technical recreational, competitive recreational), dan grade, weekly volume of practice and time elapsed after surgery before resuming judo. The features of the return to judo were analyzed (technical, ground, combat).

Sixty-seven HRA were implanted in 60 patients: 11 were international judokas, 3 were national, 8 were regional and 38 were recreational. The case series consisted of 18 patients who were 3rd Dan, 18 were 4th Dan, 7 were 5th Dan, 5 were 6th Dan and 12 were 7th Dan. The average follow-up was 65.3 months (range 9.9–11.9). All the clinical scores pointed to clinically and statistically significant improvement. Of the 60 patients, 53 had resumed judo at the final assessment (90%) after a mean of 4 months (2–7) for technical judo, 6 months (3–10) for ground judo and 7 months (3–12) for combat judo. Of those who did not resume their judo practice, 3 patients voluntarily changed sports, 2 had psychological apprehension and 2 had residual groin pain. The weekly volume of practice preoperatively was 0.9hours (0–5) and postoperatively it reached 5hours (2–18) (P<0.001).

HRA in a population of high-level judokas allows for return to sport practice without short-term complications such as fracture, dislocation or loosening.

III.