Comparison of Three-Dimensional Planning-Assisted and Conventional Acetabular Cup Positioning in Total Hip Arthroplasty A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Malpositioning of the acetabular cup during total hip arthroplasty increases the risk of dislocation, edge-loading, squeaking, early wear, and loosening. We hypothesized that the use of three-dimensional (3-D) visualization tools to identify the planned cup position relative to the acetabular edge intraoperatively would increase the accuracy of cup orientation. The purpose of this study was to compare 3-D planning-assisted implantation and freehand insertion of the acetabular cup. Methods: This was a prospective randomized controlled study of two groups of twenty-eight patients each. In the first group, cup positioning was guided by 3-D views of the cup within the acetabulum obtained during 3-D preoperative planning. In the control group, the cup was placed freehand. All of the patients were operated on by the same surgeon, through a minimally invasive direct anterior approach with the patient in the supine position. Cup anteversion and abduction angles were measured on 3-D computed tomography (CT) reconstructions. The main evaluation criterion was the percentage of outliers according to the Lewinnek safe zone. Results: Operative time did not differ between the two groups. The cup anteversion was more accurate in the 3-D planning group (mean difference from the planned angle [and standard deviation], -2.7 degrees +/- 5.4 degrees) compared with the freehand-placement group (6.6 degrees +/- 9.5 degrees). According to the Lewinnek safe zone, overall, the percentage of outliers was lower in the 3-D planning group (21%; six patients) than in the control group (46%; thirteen patients). According to the Callanan safe zone, the percentage of outliers was also lower in the 3-D planning group (25% versus 64%). Although cup abduction was also restored with greater accuracy in the 3-D planning group, on the basis of the Lewinnek safe zone, the percentage of abduction outliers was comparable between groups, with fewer high-abduction values, but more low-abduction values, in the 3-D planning group. Conclusions: Preoperative 3-D planning increased the accuracy of anteversion restoration and reduced the percentage of outliers without increasing the operative time. In this study, the same advantage could not be demonstrated for abduction.