Observer-reported outcome measures showed that patients ’ driving abilities often are impaired when wearing an immobilizing cast above or below the elbow or a shoulder sling on their dominant arm .
Conclusions The available evidence provides a best-case scenario for when patients can return to driving .
Survey data suggest that patients are returning to driving before observer-reported outcome measures have normalized , indicating that physicians should tell patients to wait longer before driving .
Background Patients often ask their doctors when they can safely return to driving after orthopaedic injuries and procedures , but the data regarding this topic are diverse and sometimes conflicting .
Some studies provide observer-reported outcome measures , such as brake response time or simulators , to estimate when patients can safely resume driving after surgery , and patient survey data describing when patients report a return to driving , but they do not all agree .
We performed a systematic review and quality appraisal for available data regarding when patients are safe to resume driving after common orthopaedic surgeries and injuries affecting the ability to drive .
Questions / purpose sBased on the available evidence , we sought to determine when patients can safely return to driving after ( 1 ) lower extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; ( 2 ) upper extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; and ( 3 ) spine surgery .
Influence of left- and right-side total hip arthroplasty on the ability to perform an emergency stop while driving a car.
OBJECTIVE To show the possible effect of  left- and right-side total hip arthroplasty ( THA )  on the ability to perform an emergency stop when driving a car . DESIGN Inception cohort . SETTING A driving simulator using an actual car cabin , specifically developed for the experiment , was used for testing driving ability . PARTICIPANTS Patients ( N=40 ; 20 left-side THA/20 right-side THA )  were tested preoperatively and in increments of 8 days and 6 , 12 , and 52 weeks after surgery . INTERVENTIONS Left- and right-side THA . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Reaction time , movement time , total brake response time ( TBRT ) , and maximum brake force . RESULTS Eight days postoperatively , measurements on driving performance indicated a slight worsening for all outcome parameters in patients after left-side THA and considerably more worsening in patients after right-side THA . For both patient groups , significant improvements in outcome measures were noted during the 1-year follow-up . Brake force declined significantly in patients with left-side THA ( P=.012 ) and in patients after right-side THA ( P<.001 ) . A total of 35 % of the patients with right-side THA and 15 % with left-side THA could not meet the 600 ms TBRT threshold 6 weeks postoperatively . CONCLUSIONS Most patients who underwent right-side THA reached their preoperative baseline 6 weeks after surgery . Most of the patients with left-side THA showed no TBRT limitations 8 days postoperatively . Because of the patients ' highly individual rehabilitation course and considering the possible consequences of the premature resumption of driving a motor vehicle , individual examination and recommendation are necessary
Observer-reported outcome measures showed that patients ’ driving abilities often are impaired when wearing an immobilizing cast above or below the elbow or a shoulder sling on their dominant arm .
Conclusions The available evidence provides a best-case scenario for when patients can return to driving .
Survey data suggest that patients are returning to driving before observer-reported outcome measures have normalized , indicating that physicians should tell patients to wait longer before driving .
Background Patients often ask their doctors when they can safely return to driving after orthopaedic injuries and procedures , but the data regarding this topic are diverse and sometimes conflicting .
Some studies provide observer-reported outcome measures , such as brake response time or simulators , to estimate when patients can safely resume driving after surgery , and patient survey data describing when patients report a return to driving , but they do not all agree .
We performed a systematic review and quality appraisal for available data regarding when patients are safe to resume driving after common orthopaedic surgeries and injuries affecting the ability to drive .
Questions / purpose sBased on the available evidence , we sought to determine when patients can safely return to driving after ( 1 ) lower extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; ( 2 ) upper extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; and ( 3 ) spine surgery .