Abstract
Material and Methods
In a prospective randomized study of two groups of 65 patients each, we compared the acetabular component position when usingthe imageless navigation system compared to the freehand conventional technique for cementless total hip arthroplasty. The position of the component was determined postoperatively on computed tomographic scans of the pelvis.
Results
There was no significant difference for postoperative mean inclination (p=0.29), but a significant difference for mean postoperativ acetabular component anteversion (p=0.007), for mean deviation of the postoperative anteversion from the target position of 15°(p=0.02) and for the outliers regarding inclination (p=0.02) and anteversion (p<0.05) between the computer-assisted and the freehand-placement group.
Conclusions
Our results demonstrate the importance of imageless navigation for the accurate positioning of the acetabular component.