Clinical advantages of image-free navigation system using surface-based registration in anatomical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Byung Hoon Lee, Dong Ho Kum, Im Joo Rhyu, Youngjun Kim, Hyunchul Cho, Joon Ho Wang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    9 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Purpose: To evaluate the clinical advantages of a navigation system developed with an emphasis on attaining an appropriate femoral tunnel length and posterior wall margin with no posterior wall blowout, as well as having accurate tunnel positioning, in anatomical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Methods: Ten freshly frozen human knees were transected at mid-femur and mid-tibia. Each knee specimen underwent arthroscopic single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using the outside-in technique, with two knees by manual ACLR (control group) and another eight knees by only the navigational ACLR without arthroscopic assistance (experimental group). The position/orientation information of tunnel entry point, tunnel length, and posterior wall distance of pre-, intra-, and postoperative tunnel were recorded, and the reliability and errors among them were evaluated. Results: From comparison of the 3D models for preoperative planning and postoperative reconstruction, the mean differences for navigational femoral tunnelling and arthroscopic-assisted femoral tunnelling were recorded, respectively: (1) tunnel entry position, 1.4 mm (SD 0.3) versus 4.9 mm; (2) tunnel length, 0.7 mm (SD 0.2), similar to 0.6 mm in arthroscopic-assisted femoral tunnelling, and (3) posterior wall distance, 0.5 mm (SD 0.2), much smaller than 4.7 mm for arthroscopic-assisted femoral tunnelling. The intraclass correlation coefficients, calculated to determine the accuracy and reliability of navigational femoral tunnelling, showed excellent internal consistency that ranged from 0.965 to 0.989 for tunnel length and from 0.810 to 0.953 for posterior wall distance. Conclusion: Navigation systems with enhancement of the registration accuracy by the developed system are feasible in anatomical ACLR, in reducing surgical failures such as short tunnel length or posterior wall breakage of distal femur. The present study revealed that computer navigation could aid in avoiding major mistakes in exact positioning and posterior wall blowout and help in attaining appropriate length for femoral tunnelling in anatomical ACLR.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3556-3564
    Number of pages9
    JournalKnee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy
    Volume24
    Issue number11
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016 Nov 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by a grant of the 2014 SMC-KIST Translational Research Program (SMX1140101). The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2016, European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery, Arthroscopy (ESSKA).

    Keywords

    • ACL
    • Anatomical reconstruction
    • Computed tomography
    • Navigation
    • Outside-in technique

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Surgery
    • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Clinical advantages of image-free navigation system using surface-based registration in anatomical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this