Many factors can negatively impact acetabular component positioning including poor visualization, increased patient size, inaccuracies of mechanical guides, and inconsistent precision of conventional instruments and techniques, and changes in patient positioning. Improper orientation contributes to increased dislocation rates, leg length discrepancies, altered hip biomechanics, component impingement, acetabular component migration, bearing surface wear, and pelvic osteolysis thus affecting revision rates and long-term survivorship. Despite the established definitions of acetabular safe zones, recent analysis of U.S. Medicare THA data found dislocation rates during the first six months to be 3.9% for primary surgeries and 14.4% for revision surgeries. Accurate and precise acetabular component orientation during initial THA is an increasingly important factor in decreasing revision THA; a recent report cites instability and dislocation as the primary cause of revision accounting for 22.5% of cases. Larger femoral heads and alternative bearing couples are less tolerant of variation in acetabular orientation and thus are poor substitutes for proper acetabular component placement.

Variability in acetabular orientation has been reported to have both an inter-surgeon and an intra-surgeon component; pre-surgical templating combined with intraop-erative measurements is subject to inconsistencies and errors. Current methods for determining acetabular orientation include preoperative imaging such as CT scans, intraoperative imaging such as plain radiographs and fluoroscopy, and intraoperative anatomical tests. Combining the concepts of patient-specific morphology (PSM) and quantitative technologies (QuanTech) such as computer-assisted navigation (CAN) has the potential to maximise range of motion and to further improve acetabular component orientation through improved accuracy and precision.

PSM refers to the practice of allowing the form and structure of the patient’s hip joint to guide surgical reconstruction and component placement thus creating an individualised and more accurate “target zone”; unlike “safe zones,” PSM does not rely on averages. Although gross anatomic changes may make it difficult to use PSM, certain structures may be used as guide-posts for orientation, alignment, and stability in most patients. At present, there are three options when considering anatomic landmarks as guides for acetabular component placement: bony landmarks, soft tissue landmarks, or a combination.

QuanTech has been shown to increase the precision of component placement by reducing intra-surgeon deviation. Some pitfalls of current CAN techniques result from maintaining camera line of sight during surgery, registration process, and pin placement. Performing THA using smaller incisions can impose additional complications as well as risks for errors in component positioning; QuanTech has the potential to provide greater visualization and precision, thus decreasing the impact of those constraints.

THA has become one of the most common and successful orthopaedic procedures; its efficacy at relieving pain and its ability to help patients have improved quality of life is without dispute yet results continue to vary with inter-surgeon and intra-surgeon differences. As the population needing THA increases, the prevalence of complications and problems will increase, even if the percentage of complications decreases. Coupling PSM with QuanTech such as CAN may allow the surgeon to decrease variability and more consistently implant THA components based on each patient’s individualized requirements. The goal of combining PSM and CAN is to further reduce inter-and intra-surgeon variation, thereby decreasing outliers, complications, and revision rates, and possibly narrowing the gap between specialist and generalist. More accurate and precise acetabular component orientation correlates with better hip biomechanics, translating into better function, fewer dislocations, fewer impingements, maximized safe range of motion, less wear, and therefore less aseptic loosening and improvements in survivorship of primary THA. Decreasing revision rates, combined with the benefits listed above, could translate into increased THA survivorship, improved patient satisfaction, and decreased economic burden on the entire healthcare system.