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The Bone & Joint Journal
Vol. 100-B, Issue 7 | Pages 862 - 866
1 Jul 2018
Darrith B Bell JA Culvern C Della Valle CJ

Aims

Accurate placement of the acetabular component is essential in total hip arthroplasty (THA). The purpose of this study was to determine if the ability to achieve inclination of the acetabular component within the ‘safe-zone’ of 30° to 50° could be improved with the use of an inclinometer.

Patients and Methods

We reviewed 167 primary THAs performed by a single surgeon over a period of 14 months. Procedures were performed at two institutions: an inpatient hospital, where an inclinometer was used (inclinometer group); and an ambulatory centre, where an inclinometer was not used as it could not be adequately sterilized (control group). We excluded 47 patients with a body mass index (BMI) of > 40 kg/m2, age of > 68 years, or a surgical indication other than osteoarthritis whose treatment could not be undertaken in the ambulatory centre. There were thus 120 patients in the study, 68 in the inclinometer group and 52 in the control group. The inclination angles of the acetabular component were measured from de-identified plain radiographs by two blinded investigators who were not involved in the surgery. The effect of the use of the inclinometer on the inclination angle was determined using multivariate regression analysis.