Introduction

The global rapid growth of the aging population has some likelihood to create a serious crisis on health-care and economy at an unprecedented pace. To extend Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE) in a number of countries, it is desired more than ever to investigate characteristic and prognosis of numerous diseases. This enlightenment and recent studies on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) will drive the increasing interest in the quality of life among the world.

The demand for primary THAs by 2030 would rise up to 174% in USA. It is expected that the number of the elderly will surge significantly in the future, thus more septuagenarian and octogenarian are undergoing THA. Moreover, HALE of Japanese female near the age of 75 years, followed to Singapore, is still increasing. Therefore, concerns exist about the PROMs of performing THA in this age-group worldwide. Nevertheless almost the well-established procedure, little agreement has been reached to the elderly. We aimed to clarify the mid-term PROMs after THA over 75-year old.

Purpose

Despite total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a successful surgical procedure with end-stage knee osteoarthritis, approximately 20% of the patients who underwent primary TKA were still dissatisfied with the outcome. Thereby, numerous literatures have confirmed the relationship between soft tissue balancing and clinical result to improve this pressing issue. Recently, there has been an increased research interest in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) after TKA. However, there is little agreement on the association between soft tissue balancing and PROMs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether intraoperative soft tissue balancing affected PROMs after primary TKA. We hypothesized that soft tissue balancing would be a predictive factor for postoperative PROMs at one-year post-surgery.

Although the pre- or intraoperative flexion angle in TKA has been commonly considered as a predictor of the postoperative flexion angle, patients with well flexion intraoperatively cannot necessarily obtain deep flexion angle postoperatively. The reason why inconsistencies remains has been unsolved. The intraoperative compressive force between femoral and tibial components has the advantage of the sequential changes during knee motion. However, the relationship between the compressive force and the postoperative ROM has not yet been clarified. We aimed to evaluate the intraoperative femorotibial compressive force during passive knee motion, and determine the relationship between the compressive force and the postoperative flexion angle.

A total of 11 knees in 10 patients who underwent primary cruciate-retaining (CR) TKA (The FINE Total Knee System; Teijin Nakashima Medical Co., Ltd., Okayama, Japan) for osteoarthritis were studied retrospectively, with a mean age of 76 years via a measured resection technique. We developed a customized measurement device mimicking the tibial component with this platform of six load sensors arranged in two rows (medial and lateral) by three tandem sets (anterior, center and posterior): anteromedial (AM), anterolateral (AL); centromedial (CM), centrolateral (CL); and posteromedial (PM), posterolateral compartment (PL) (Fig. 1). At the step of the implant trial, this device was placed on the tibia with compressive force recorded three times, while the knee was subsequently taken from 0° to full flexion manually in 15 seconds with the flexion angle of the knee recorded simultaneously by using an electric goniometer (Fig. 2). Eligibility were evaluated for ROM using a long-armed goniometer preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant.

The mean compressive force at AM, AL, CM, CL, PM and PL was 0.7, 0.5, 1.3, 1.2, 3.4 and 2.6 kgf, with the peak force of 4.2, 2.5, 4.1, 2.5, 7.3 and 4.7 kgf, respectively. The mean pre- and postoperative extension and flexion angles were −11° and −6°; and 115° and 113°, respectively. There were no significant correlations between the mean force in any region of interest (AM to PL) and the postoperative flexion angle. The peak force in PM showed little correlation with the postoperative flexion angle (r = −0.17, p = 0.54), however, that in PL was strongly negatively correlated with the postoperative flexion (r = −0.86, p < 0.01).

The current results suggest the presence of less force on the lateral side in flexion. We speculate that lower compressive force at the lateral side is essential for deep flexion as it has been reported that the lateral structure has more laxity than the medial side during flexion in healthy knees. Measurement between the femoral and tibial compressive force can contribute an achievement of more flexion angle following CR-TKA.

Introduction

Correction and arthrodesis for cervical kyphosis associated with atetoid cerebral palsy has been considered to be difficult because of their involuntary neck movements and severe deformity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the surgical outcome of midline T-saw laminoplasty and posterior arthrodesis using pedicle screws.

Nowadays navigation system for THA is widespread and contributes to accurate cup installation as for cup abduction and anteversion angles. On the other hand, cup center position is very important to prevent leg length discrepancy and to acquire appropriate muscle tension especially for DDH cases. However planning and accuracy of cup center position was rarely mentioned when the efficacy of navigation systems were discussed. We therefore examined not only accuracy of cup angles, but also of cup center position in our image-free navigation system for DDH.

One hundred three THA operations were performed with using the image-free OrthoPilot hip navigation system (B. Braun Aesculap, Tuttlingen, Germany) between May 2006 and July 2008 by three experienced surgeons. In this system, we can measure the length between two different points marked by special pointer during surgery. Thus we pointed the upper rim of obturator foramen (this mark was estimated the lower tip of tear drop, and the bottom of reaming hole (this mark was estimated same height from cup center position) before cup installation and measured the vertical length between them(op length). After operation, we measured the vertical length from tear drop to cup center on the x-ray film (xp length), and compared these two values.

The average difference of two values were 6.41±4.17 mm ((op length)-(xp length)). Secondly we divided them into two groups, large error group (> 0.7mm) and small error group (< 0.6mm) and investigated the cause of large error. As result, large error was influenced by difference of surgeons, whereas not influenced by patient’s etiology and BMI.

By using image-free navigation system for DDH, we can plan the cup center position and install it within the error of 6.4mm. This will contribute to avoid a lot of hesitations during surgery. However surgeon’s skill and habitants have influence on this technique. We have to investigate this system and make effort to further improvement continuously.

Direct anterior approach (DAA) is an inter-muscular approach that needs no muscle detached. In THA through DAA approach, exposure of the acetabulum is facilitated, while the key points of this approach are femoral lift-up and hip extension to get sufficient access to the femoral canal. To investigate the strategy for femoral lift-up, we released the capsule step by step and measured the distance of femoral lift-up at each step in cadavers and clinical cases. The effects of hip extension on femoral lift-up were also evaluated.

Three fresh frozen cadavers were used. In supine position, the hip joint was exposed through DAA by two experienced surgeons. After anterior capsulotomy and femoral head resection, posterior capsule release was performed followed by superior capsule release in one side, and superior release was followed by posterior release in the other side. Finally, internal obturator muscle was released in both side. At each step, the distance of femoral lift-up was measured under the traction force of 70N. The effects of hip extension were investigated in 0, 15 and 25 degrees hyper-extension. Thirty-six THA were performed through DAA. Posterior capsule release was performed followed by superior capsule release in 13 hips, and superior release was followed by posterior release in 23 hips. At each step, the distance of femoral lift-up was measured under the traction force of 70N at each step same as the cadaver study.

In cadaver study, anterior capsulotomy and posterior capsule release affected little the femoral lift-up. The distance increased after superior capsular release. The distance decreased as hip hyperextension unless the superior capsule was released. The effect of internal obturator muscle release was not observed. In clinical studies, the same tendency was observed in clinical cases. Superior capsule release was the most effective for the femoral lift-up.

The results of this study indicate that superior capsule release is the first step for the femoral liftup. The second step is hip extension to get access to the femoral canal. By performing these procedures step by step, rasping and stem insertion can be achieved with minimal soft tissue release.

In image-free navigation system, three bony landmarks (typically both anterior superior iliac spines (ASIS) and pubic symphysis) are registered intraoperatively by manual palpation. If the registration of bony landmarks is inaccurate, the final orientation of the cup determined by the navigation system will also be inaccurate. We therefore examined intra-and intersurgeon variability in registration and the distance between registration points in each bony landmark with two surgical positions.

Thirty-seven THAs were performed in the lateral position and 15 THAs were performed in the supine position. The cup was fixed using the image-free Ortho-Pilot hip navigation system (B. Braun Aesculap, Tuttlingen, Germany). The registration was repeated two more times by operator and assistant, and the intra-and intersurgeon variability of cup abduction angle and anteversion was analyzed by ICC (intraclass correlation coefficients). In 25 hips, the distance between intrasurgeon registration points and that between intersurgeon registration points in each landmark were calculated.

The ICC in the lateral position ranged between 0.59 and 0.81, and between 0.85 and 0.95 in the supine position. The ICCs of cup abduction angle for the intra-and intersurgeon variability were 0.92 and 0.95 for the supine position and 0.65 and 0.59 for the lateral position. Those of anteversion were 0.93, 0.85, and 0.81, 0.72, respectively.

The variability of registration of collateral and contralateral ASIS in the lateral position was greater than that in the supine position.

In image-free navigation system, the variability of registration points depended on bony landmarks and patient position. The registrations of pubic symphysis in the supine position and all bony landmarks in the lateral decubitus position are standing further improvement.

Introduction: In total hip arthroplasty, the angle of acetabular component is a critical factor for the postoperative dislocation and the longevity of prostheses. The angle is principally determined in relation to anterior pelvic plane. It is reported that the pelvis tends to tilt posteriorly along with aging. Furthermore, the pelvic tilt might change after THA. The changes might be infiuenced by the hip condition and lumbar lordosis. We measured the pelvic tilt and the lumbar lordosis, and evaluated the effects of contralateral hip and lumbar lordosis on pelvic tilt after THA.

Materials and Methods: Fifty-one unilateral patients and 30 bilateral patients were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis was dysplastic osteoarthritis in all patients. In unilateral patients, the hip was affected in one side and the other hip was normal or acetabular dysplasia without symptoms. In bilateral patients, THAs in both hips were done within two months.

Pelvic inclination angle (PIA) and lumbar lordotic angle (LLA) were measured on the standing lateral X-rays before operation and 1-month, 6-month and 1-year post-operation. The effects of patient age, BMI, ROM of the hip, preoperative PIA and LLA on the changes of PIA were statistically investigated using multiple linear regression analysis. We divided the patients into three groups with regard to pre-operative PIA (anterior group: PIA < 0, intermediate group: 0 < PIA < 10, posterior group: PIA > 10) and with regard to pre-operative LLA (insufficient group: LLA < 20, moderate group: 20 < LLA < 40, severe group: LLA > 40).

Results: Overall, significant factor was only preoperative PIA. In bilateral cases, preoperative PIA and patient age affected the changes of PIA after THA. In patients with severe lordosis, preoperative PIA and LLA were significant factors. PIA increased in anterior tilt group and PIA did not change in intermediate group, while PIA gradually decreased in posterior group. In insufficient lordosis group, PIA remarkably increased after THA compared with that in severe group.

Discussion: Pelvic tilt after THA has been reported without considering the conditions of contralateral hip and lumbar spine. By categorizing patients with regard to the conditions of hips and lumbar spine, we can prospect the tendency of the direction of PIA changes. These results indicated that pre-operative PIA was related the changes of PIA in bilateral group. PIA slightly increased in all bilateral patients, PIA tended to close each other in unilateral patients. Further investigation is necessary to prospect the estimated PIA value after THA.