Patient specific instrumentation (PSI) for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may improve component position and sizing. However, little has been reported about the accuracy of the default plan created by the manufacturer. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the reliability of the manufacturer plan and the impact of surgeon's changes on the final accuracy of the cutting guide sizes.

The planned sizes of 45 TKAs were prospectively recorded from the in the initial manufacturer's proposal and from the final plan modified after surgeon's evaluation and compared to the actually implanted sizes.

The manufacturer's initial proposal differed from the final implant in 20% of the femoral and 51.11% of the tibial components, while the surgeon's plan in 13.33% of the femoral and 26.67% of the tibial components. Surgeon's modifications in the pre-operative were carried out for 11.11% of the femoral components and 51.11% of the tibial ones (p = 0.0299). Appropriate modification occurred in of 88% and 76% of femoral and tibial changes respectively.

The surgeon's accuracy to predict the final component size was significantly different from that of the manufacturer and changes on the manufacturer's plan were necessary to get an accurate preoperative plan of the implant sizes. Careful evaluation by an experienced knee surgeon is mandatory when planning TKA with PSI. Collaboration between surgeons and manufacturers may help obtain improved accuracy in PSI size planning.

Introduction

The dual mobility cup was introduced in the 1970s to allow extensive range of motion associated with great stability thanks to double articulation; the first between the head and polyethylene, the second between the polyethylene and the cup.

The original plan was to install a stainless-steel uncemented cup coated with a thin layer of alumina and a metal head of 22,2 mm with a polyethylene liner of first generation.

Long term follow-up case studies are cited in the literature showing excellent results in reducing dislocations; however wearing and aseptic loosening are noted.

The new dual-mobility cups, with reticular polyethylene and titanium and hydroxyapatite coating are proving as reliable as the older ones in terms of stability whilst they appear to be more durable.

Furthermore, cemented dual-mobility cups are available, these are the topic of this study. One of the most frequent complications in the major revisions of hip replacement is dislocation. This study summarises our experience gathered in the use of dual-mobility cups during revisions of complex cases (GIR III-IV femoral or acetabular).

Introduction

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is considered one of the most feared causes of implant failure, due to the difficulty in formulating a proper and timely diagnosis. In the diagnostic workup are often used test with a low specificity, such as the dosage of ESR and CRP, or sensitivity, such as cultures or the leukocyte count of the synovial fluid. Radiological investigations are expensive and unreliable to play a direct role in the diagnosis of PJI. The alpha-defensin is an antimicrobial peptide released by neutrophils in response to pathogens and it is an ideal biomarker for the diagnosis of PJI. It is now possible to verify the presence of alpha-defensin in periprosthetic synovial fluid with an ELISA (Synovasure® PJI, Zimmer) that provides results in 10 minutes, with a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 96%, without being affected by systemic inflammatory diseases or by the assumption of antibiotics. The purpose of this study is to assess the applicability and reliability of Synovasure® PJI, correlating its results with microbiological analyzes, laboratory tests and imaging studies of the patient.