Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Jul 18, 2024; 15(7): 660-667
Published online Jul 18, 2024. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v15.i7.660
Intraoperative application of three-dimensional printed guides in total hip arthroplasty: A systematic review
Tim P Crone, Bart M W Cornelissen, Jakob Van Oldenrijk, Pieter Koen Bos, Ewout S Veltman
Tim P Crone, Jakob Van Oldenrijk, Pieter Koen Bos, Ewout S Veltman, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam 3015 GD, Netherlands
Bart M W Cornelissen, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam 3015 GD, Netherlands
Author contributions: Crone TP and Veltman ES designed the study; Crone TP reviewed the data and wrote the manuscript; Cornelissen BMW, Van Oldenrijk J, Bos PK and Veltman ES read the primary draft critically and provided feedback; All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ewout S Veltman, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, Rotterdam 3015 GD, Netherlands. e.veltman@erasmusmc.nl
Received: April 11, 2024
Revised: May 23, 2024
Accepted: June 24, 2024
Published online: July 18, 2024
Processing time: 91 Days and 17 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Acetabular component positioning in total hip arthroplasty (THA) is of key importance to ensure satisfactory post-operative outcomes and to minimize the risk of complications. The majority of acetabular components are aligned freehand, without the use of navigation methods. Patient specific instruments (PSI) and three-dimensional (3D) printing of THA placement guides are increasingly used in primary THA to ensure optimal positioning.

AIM

To summarize the literature on 3D printing in THA and how they improve acetabular component alignment.

METHODS

PubMed was used to identify and access scientific studies reporting on different 3D printing methods used in THA. Eight studies with 236 hips in 228 patients were included. The studies could be divided into two main categories; 3D printed models and 3D printed guides.

RESULTS

3D printing in THA helped improve preoperative cup size planning and post-operative Harris hip scores between intervention and control groups (P = 0.019, P = 0.009). Otherwise, outcome measures were heterogeneous and thus difficult to compare. The overarching consensus between the studies is that the use of 3D guidance tools can assist in improving THA cup positioning and reduce the need for revision THA and the associated costs.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of 3D printing and PSI for primary THA can significantly improve the positioning accuracy of the acetabular cup component and reduce the number of complications caused by malpositioning.

Keywords: Total hip arthroplasty; Three-dimensional printing; Hip replacement surgery; Three-dimensional planning; Surgical guides

Core Tip: This study aimed to assess and summarize the current use of three-dimensional (3D) printing in total hip arthroplasty (THA) surgery. Eight studies discussing different implementations of 3D printing in THA were included and analyzed. The implementation of 3D printing and patient specific instruments for primary THA can significantly improve the positioning accuracy of the acetabular cup component and reduce the number of complications caused by malpositioning.