Abstract
Background
Total hip arthroplasty requires proper sizing and placing of implants to ensure excellent outcomes and reduce complications. Calculation of femoral offset is an important consideration for optimal reconstruction of the hip biomechanics. Femoral offset can be measured on plain films or with flouroscopy if the x-ray beam is perpendicular to the plane determined by the angle between the neck axis and femoral shaft axis. This distance is evident only with the femur in the correct degree of rotation. Though pre-operative templating for femoral component size and offset is a regular accepted practice, a consistent method for assessing correct femoral rotation on the AP x-ray view has not been established.
Purpose/Hypthesis
The purpose of the current study was to establish and validate a method for identifying radiographic landmarks on the proximal femur that would reliably indicate that the femur was in the proper degree of rotation to represent the true offset from the head center to shaft center.
Methods
Lead markers were placed on areas of the greater trochanter followed by xrays. Markers placed on locations on the anterior and posterior greater trochanter duplicated reliable radiographic lines. Proximal femurs were dissected to the bone and rotated about their long axis from neutral rotation, defined at the point when the anterior and posterior aspects of the greater trochanter were aligned radiographically. Radiographs were taken at 2 degree increments in both internal and external rotation until 10 degrees, then again at 30 degrees. A custom script was used to calculate the femoral offset at these rotations at these locations. Descriptive analysis was performed to assess the relationship between rotation angle and femoral offset.
Results
The mean femoral offset was observed to be 38.21 mm (SD 4.93, median 37.82, range 30.52–46.27). The mean rotation of max offset was −3.6° (SD 5.6, median −6, range −10 to +8). The average underestimation error (the difference between calculated offset at neutral rotation and observed maximum femoral offset) was 0.92 mm (median 0.74, range 0 to 2.07 mm).
Conclusion
Alignment of the radiographic lines created by the anterior and posterior aspects of the greater trochanter is a reliable and accurate rotational positioning method for measuring femoral offset when using plain films or fluoroscopy. It is a feasible method that can be applied preoperatively and/or intraoperatively to optimize accuracy of femoral offset for THA procedures.
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