Femoral Vessel Blood Flow Is Preserved Throughout Direct Anterior Total Hip Arthroplasty

Posterolateral and anterolateral approach THA disrupts femoral vessel blood flow, however, this has not been established for the direct anterior (DA) approach. Ten patients undergoing primary DA THA had peak vascular flow rates for the femoral artery and vein calculated via Doppler ultrasound at specified points: incision, acetabular preparation, femoral preparation and final reduction. Peak femoral arterial and venous flow decreased over baseline, but not significantly, during acetabular preparation (P = 0.88, P = 0.98) and femoral preparation (P = 0.97, P = 0.97). At final reduction, arterial peak flow was restored (P = 1) with an increase in venous flow (P = 0.55). Although there were alterations to peak flow, no vessel occlusion occurred at any point during DA THA.