3D printing and its applications in orthopaedic trauma: A technological marvel

Abstract

BackgroundWith rapid emergence of 3D printing technology, surgeons have recently started to apply this for nearly all areas of orthopaedic trauma surgery. Computed tomography or magnetic resonance images of trauma patients can be utilized for making graspable objects from 3D reconstructed images. Patient specific anatomical models can thereby be created. They enhance surgeon's knowledge of their patients' precise patho-anatomy, regarding both traumatized bones and soft tissue as well as normal areas, and therefore help in accurate preoperative planning. 3D printed patient specific instrumentation can help to achieve precise implant placement, and better surgical results. Most importantly, customized implants, casts, orthoses and prosthetics can be manufactured to match an individual's anatomy. Three dimensional (3D) printing, also called as ‘additive manufacturing’ and ‘rapid prototyping’ is considered as the “second industrial revolution”, and this appears to be especially true for orthopaedic trauma surgery. MethodsA literature search was performed for extracting all papers related to 3D Printing applications in orthopaedics and allied sciences on the Pubmed, and SCOPUS; using suitable key terms and Boolean operators (“3D Printing” OR “3 dimensional printing” OR “3D printed” OR “additive manufacturing” OR “rapid prototyping”) AND (‘‘Orthopaedics” OR “Orthopaedics’’) AND (“Trauma” OR “Injury”)in June 2018. Search was also performed in Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. No limits were set on the time period or evidence level, as 3D printing in orthopaedics is relatively recent and mainly low level evidence is available. Titles and abstracts were screened and all duplicate and unrelated papers were excluded. Papers related to orthopaedic trauma were manually selected for this review. ResultsThe search on Pubmed retrieved 144 Papers and similar search on SCOPUS retrieved 94 papers. Additional searches did not reveal more relevant papers. After excluding duplicates and unrelated papers, and on screening of titles and abstracts, 59 papers were considered for review. Papers related to spine fractures only were not included, as they have been covered in another paper in this journal issue. ConclusionAll over the world, orthopaedic Surgeon's and allied professionals and scientists are enthusiastically using 3D printing technology for designing patient specific models, instrumentation, implants, orthosis and prosthesis, besides 3D bioprinting of bone and cartilage scaffolding, and the same has been applied for nearly all areas of orthopaedic trauma surgery, from head to foot.