The value of three dimensional printing technology assisted surgery in the treatment of complex tibial plateau fractures / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the advantage and application prospect of 3D printing technology in assisting surgery for complex tibial plateau fractures.Methods The complete clinical data of 41 patients (48 knees) were retrospectively analyzed.And these patients were divided into two groups as 3D printing assisted operation group and traditional operation group,according to whether 3D printing technology was applied.Study was carried out to compare the clinical efficacy of surgery assisted by 3D printing technology and traditional surgery in the treatment of complex tibial plateau fractures.The 3D printing assisted operation group included 18 patients (22 knees,12 males and 6 females),aging from 16 to 68 (mean age 45.5±7.2),and there were 12 cases of Schatzker Ⅴ and 10 Ⅵ.The traditional operation group included 23 patients (26 knees,15 males and 8 females),aging from 19 to 69 (mean age,46.2±6.8),and there were 14 cases of Schatzker Ⅴ and 12 Ⅵ.The operation time,intraoperative blood loss,the Rasmussen score and hospital for special surgery knee score (HSS) at 6 weeks post-operation were analyzed and the difference between the two groups was tested.Results All those patients were followed up for 7 to 20 months (mean 15 months).For 3D printing assisted operation group,the mean operation time was 81.4±6.3 min for Schatzker Ⅴ and 90.6± 15.4 min for Schatzker Ⅵ;the mean intraoperative blood loss was 200.4±72.3 ml for Schatzker Ⅴ and 280.6±101.6 ml for Schatzker Ⅵ;the result of 6-week Rasmussen score was 14 excellent,6 good and 2 fair (excellent and good rate 90.9％);the result of 6-week HSS score was 15 excellent,5 good and 2 fair (excellent and good rate 90.9％).Then for traditional operation group,the mean operation time was 100.4± 15.3 min for Schatzker Ⅴ and 111.5±20.2 min for Schatzker Ⅵ;the mean intraoperative blood loss was 450.4±173.3 ml for Schatzker Ⅴ and 500.5±247.2 ml for Schatzker Ⅵ;the result of 6-week Rasmussen score was 14 excellent,8 good,2 fair and 2 bad (excellent and good rate 84.6％);the result of 6-week HSS score was 13 excellent,8 good,2 fair and 3 bad (excellent and good rate 80.8％).The difference in operation time,intraoperative blood loss had statistical significance between the two groups;but the difference in 6-month post-operation Rasmussen score and HSS score had no statistical significance.Conclusion Compared with traditional surgery,3D printing technology assisted surgery for complex tibial plateau fracture possesses advantage such as shortened operation time,reduced intraoperative blood loss;but there's no evidence for improved knee function at 6 weeks post-operation.