Application of 3D-printing templates for titanium plate contouring in pelvic ring surgery / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the application of 3D printing templates for titanium plate contouring (TrPC) in pelvic ring surgery.Methods From May 2016 to June 2018,12 patients with pelvic ring injury were treated by internal fixation with 24 titanium plates at Department of Orthopedics and Trauma,Sanshui People's Hospital.After solid digital models of the damaged pelves of the patients were reconstructed from their CT images via software,the hollowed ones were created with the wall thickness of 1.2 mm.After the models of damaged pelves were restored to be intact,the templates for titanium plate contouring were designed based on the area of fixation and manufactured via a stereo lithography apparatus.The total manufacturing time and material consumption of 3D printing TTPC were recorded and compared with those of 3D printing solid and hollow models.Before operation,the titanium plates were contoured according to the templates.The time for preoperative shaping the plate and the time for intraoperative preparing the plate before installation were recorded.After operation,all patients underwent CT scan again for reconstruction of 3D models of the postoperative pelves which were compared with their corresponding preoperative ones in the software.Matta criteria were used to evaluate the pelvic reduction and Majeed criteria to evaluate the functional recovery 6 months after operation.Results All patients were followed up for 6 to 28 months (average,16.3 months).The total manufacturing time and material consumption of 3D printing a TTPC were significantly less than those of 3D printing a solid or hollow model (P ＜ 0.05).The time for preoperative shaping the plate was 12.8 ± 4.1 minutes and the time for intraoperative preparing the plate was 1.4 ± 1.1 minutes.The average deviation between the preoperative 3D models and the postoperative ones was 1.4 ± 1.1 mm.According to the Matta criteria for pelvic reduction,6 cases were excellent,4 good and 2 satisfactory.According to the Majeed criteria,the pelvic functions were excellent in 7 cases,good in 4,and fair in one.Conclusion Application of 3D printing TTPC in the surgery for pelvic ring injury is advantageous in lowering the costs of 3D printing and reducing the intraoperative time for contouring the titanium plate,leading to satisfactory outcomes.