Evaluation of implant alignment in navigated unicompartmental knee arthroplasty : a comparison of 2D and 3D imaging


Published online: Dec 27 2015

Kazunari ISHIDA, Akihiko TODA, Nao SHIBANUMA, Tomoyuki MATSUMOTO, Ryosuke KURODA, Masahiro KUROSAKA

From Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe Kaisei Hospital, Nada, Kobe, Japan

Abstract

This study aimed to compare two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) methods for evaluating implant alignment in navigated UKA. Nineteen UKAs in 18 subjects (7 men) were performed using an image- free navigation system. Coronal and sagittal implant alignments were assessed using radiographs (2D evaluation) and 3D image-matching software. The accuracy of 2D evaluation was compared with that of 3D evaluation. A deviation > 3° from the 3D evaluation was defined as an outlier. In the 2D evaluation, outliers for the femoral component were observed in both the coronal plane (6/19 subjects) and the sagittal plane (3/19 subjects). In UKA, assessment of the implant position might be misjudged because of the design of the implant, especially for the femoral component ; 3D methods are ideal for assessment of implant alignment.

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