The Use of Abduction Bracing for the Prevention of Early Postoperative Dislocation After Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty

One potential strategy to decrease the risk of dislocation after revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) is the use of an abduction brace to limit flexion and adduction. The purpose of this study was to compare the dislocation rate after revision THA between patients treated with or without an abduction brace. Data were obtained from 1211 revision THAs performed in 610 women and 518 men who had a mean age of 64.7 years (range, 22-95 years) and were followed up for a minimum of 90 days. Five hundred two patients were braced, whereas 650 were not. The 90-day dislocation rate among patients who wore a brace was 5.2% compared with 5.7% in the nonbrace group (P = .70). Multivariate regression found no benefit to bracing (P = .37), while controlling for factors found to significantly affect dislocation rate in this population. Our data do not support the routine use of an abduction brace to aid in the prevention of dislocation.