Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, acetabular component insertion in direct anterior approach (DAA) total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been performed using fluoroscopic guidance. Handheld navigation systems can be used to address issues of alignment, cup placement and accuracy of measurements. Previous navigation systems have been used successfully in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and has now been introduced in THA. We investigated the use of a new accelerometer-based, handheld navigation system during DAA THA to compare it to traditional means. This study aims to determine accuracy of acetabular cup placement as well as fluoroscopy times between two groups of patients.
METHODS
Data was prospectively collected for a group of consecutive DAA THA procedures using a handheld navigation system (n=45) by a single surgeon. This was compared to data retrospectively collected for a group that underwent the same procedure without use of the navigation system(n=50). The time for use of the navigation system, including insertion of pins/registration, guiding cup position, and removal of pins, was recorded intraoperatively. Postoperative anteroposterior and cross-table lateral radiographs were used to measure acetabular inclination and anteversion angles. Targeted angles for all cases were 40° ±5 for inclination and 20° ±5 for anteversion. Intraoperative fluoroscopy exposure times were obtained from post-anesthesia care unit radiographs.
RESULTS
Mean time of pin insertion/registration, cup positioning and removal was 180.5 seconds, 127.7 seconds and 26 seconds, giving a mean total time of 5.6 minutes. There were no significant differences in mean postoperative acetabular inclination angles between the navigation group as compared to the non-navigation group (39.8° vs 40.6°) (p = .2). There were no significant differences in mean postoperative acetabular anteversion angles between the navigation group as compared to the non-navigation group (24.3° vs 23.7°) (p=.5). Mean intraoperative fluoroscopy exposure times were significantly lower in the navigation group as compared to the non-navigation group (12.6 vs 22.2 seconds) (p<.0001).
CONCLUSION
The findings demonstrated that a new handheld navigation system required minimal increase in operative time and was as accurate for cup positioning as fluoroscopically assisted DAA THA. Furthermore, there was a 45% reduction in fluoroscopy exposure time. Reduction in fluoroscopy time will lower radiation exposure for the surgeon and patients.
