A New Surgical Instrument and Technique Designed To Achieve More Accurate Component Placement in Total Hip Replacement

Abstract

Most US surgeons perform THR surgery with their patients in a lateral decubitus position and rely on maintaining that precise position when implanting the final components. Most surgeons have not had a reliable way to visualize changes in pelvic positioning or an accurate way to restore patient positioning. The purpose of this study is to describe a simple technique using a new device that allows for more accurate assessment of the degree of pelvic tilt and a method to correct for, and potentially improve, the accuracy when using a traditional cup alignment guide. The pelvic alignment level is a sterile, single-use surgical instrument designed to address: pelvic tilt movement to improve accuracy of leg length and femoral offset, intraoperative pelvic rotation in the transverse place to optimize acetabular implant placement, and achieve desired cup inclination and anteversion to help reduce the chance for postoperative dislocation.