Patient-specific Targeting Guides for Glenoid Component Placement in Shoulder Arthroplasty: Technique and Initial Clinical Experience

Accurate glenoid component positioning is important for successful shoulder arthroplasty. Because traditional instrumentation does not facilitate preparation of the worn glenoid, patient-specific targeting guides have been developed to allow component placement in anatomic version and a desired angle of inclination based on the type of arthroplasty (anatomic or reverse). The purpose of this study is to describe the technique and initial clinical experience of glenoid component implantation with patient-specific targeting guides. Five patients had anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty and 10 patients had reverse total shoulder replacement with patient-specific targeting guides. Glenoid components placed with patient-specific guides averaged 4 degrees (range, 1 to 9 degrees) of deviation from the intended position in version and 5 degrees (range, 0 to 10 degrees) in inclination. When the combined vectors of version and inclination were assessed, the average deviation from the intended component position was 6 degrees (range, 3 to 10 degrees). The average deviation in starting point was 2 mm (range, 0 to 5 mm). The early clinical experience with this technology is promising, with average deviations in version and inclination of 5 degrees or less from the intended component position. Additional large-scale and long-term studies will be needed to further assess the clinical efficacy of these targeting guides.

Source: Techniques in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery - November 11, 2014 Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Techniques Source Type: research