Background Newer surgical approaches to THA, such as the direct anterior approach, may influence a patient's time to recovery, but it is important to make sure that these approaches do not compromise reconstructive safety or accuracy. Questions/purposes We compared the direct anterior approach and conventional posterior approach in terms of (1) recovery of hip function after primary THA, (2) general health outcomes, (3) operative time and surgical complications, and (4) accuracy of component placement. Methods In this prospective, comparative, nonrandomized study of 120 patients (60 direct anterior THA, 60 posterior THAs), we assessed functional recovery using the VAS pain score, timed up and go (TUG) test, motor component of the Functional Independence Measure TM