Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

, Volume 468, Issue 7, pp 1862–1868 | Cite as

Leg Length and Offset Measures with a Pinless Femoral Reference Array during THA

  • Tobias Renkawitz
  • Tibor Schuster
  • Joachim Grifka
  • Thomas Kalteis
  • Ernst Sendtner
Basic Research
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The bony fixation of reference marker arrays used for computer-assisted navigation during total hip arthroplasty (THA) theoretically involves the risk of fracture, infection, and/or pin loosening. We asked whether intraoperative assessment of leg length (LL) and offset (OS) changes would be accurate using a novel pinless femoral reference system in conjunction with an imageless measurement algorithm based on specific realignment of the relationship between a dynamic femoral and pelvis reference array. LL/OS measurements were recorded during THA in 17 cadaver specimen hips. Preoperatively and postoperatively, specimens were scanned using CT. Linear radiographic LL/OS changes were determined by two investigators using visible fiducial landmarks and image processing software. We found a high correlation of repeated measurements within and between (both 0.95 or greater) the two examiners who did the CT assessments. Pinless LL/OS values showed mean differences less than 1 mm and correlations when compared with CT measurements.

Keywords

Image Processing Software Reference Array Anterior Pelvis Plane Bony Fixation Imageless Navigation 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank Ing. S. Gneiting (SG), N. Ehret, Ing. M. Wegner, Dr. Ing. M. Haimerl and MTRA C. Becker for their exceptional support of this project.

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Copyright information

© The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons® 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tobias Renkawitz
    • 1
    • 4
  • Tibor Schuster
    • 2
  • Joachim Grifka
    • 1
  • Thomas Kalteis
    • 3
  • Ernst Sendtner
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Orthopaedic SurgeryRegensburg University Medical CenterRegensburgGermany
  2. 2.Institute of Medical Statistics and EpidemiologyMuenchen Technische UniversitaetMuenchenGermany
  3. 3.Orthopaedic Surgery MunichOrthopaedic-Surgical Joint PracticeMunichGermany
  4. 4.Department of Orthopaedic SurgeryRegensburg University Medical CenterBad AbbachGermany

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