Efficacy of a Single Preoperative Administration of Action Observation Therapy Associated With Motor Imagery in Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Action Observation Therapy (AOT) and Motor Imagery (MI) are two rehabilitation approaches based on Mirror Neuron System (MNS). The MNS refers to a series of neurons able to activate both when one observes an action being performed or when one physically performs the action themselves. Previous studies reported that functional recovery is facilitated by asking patient observing videos with motor content (AOT) and after imagining (MI) the gestures observed. These rehabilitative apporach have been used in particular to promote functional recovery in patients with neuromotor problems, in particular in patients with stroke. To date, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach in functional recovery after orthopedic surgery and none of these applied AOT and MI in a single pre-operative session. The objective of the study is to verify whether a single administration consisting of two pre-operative sessions of AOT associated with MI can lead to an improvement of functional recovery in hip arthroplasty patients.