Ilizarov bone transport assisted by a 3D printed patient-specific guide plate for treatment of tibial bone defects / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of 3D printed patients-specific guide plates in assisting Ilizarov bone transport in the treatment of tibial bone defects.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 24 patients with tibial bone defects who had been admitted to Institute of Trauma Orthopedics, The 80th Army Group Hospital of PLA from January 2018 to March 2022. There were 9 males and 15 females with an age of (49.8±6.5) years, and 4 upper tibial defects, 5 middle tibial defects, and 15 lower tibial defects. According to the methods of repairing bone defects, the patients were divided into 2 groups: a 3D printing group of 10 cases where a 3D printed patient-specific guide plate was used to assist Ilizarov bone transport in the treatment of tibial bone defects, and a traditional group of 14 cases where Ilizarov bone transport was performed in a traditional manner. The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy, axial angulation of the tibia at postoperation and the last follow-up, external fixation time (EFT) and external fixation index (EFI). At the last follow-up, healing of bone defects was evaluated according to the criteria of The Association for the Study and Application of the Method of Ilizarov (ASAMI), functional outcomes were evaluated according to the Paley criteria, and needle infection was recorded according to the Paley classification for complications.Results:There was no statistically significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, indicating comparability ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up for (11.3±2.0) months on average after operation. The 3D printing group had significantly shorter operation time [(19.9±2.6) min] and significantly lower frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy [(3.0±0.8) times] than the traditional group [(38.1±2.2) min and (8.9±1.3) times] (P<0.05), and had significantly better axial angulation of the tibia at postoperation and the last follow-up than the traditional group ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in EFT or EFI between the 2 groups ( P>0.05), and the last follow-up revealed no significant difference either in bone healing, functional outcomes, or needle infection between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusion:In the treatment of tibial bone defects, compared with conventional Ilizarov bone transport, the Ilizarov bone transport assisted by a 3D printed patient-specific guide plate demonstrates advantages of shorter operation time, lower intraoperative fluoroscopy, and higher reduction accuracy.