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Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

THR: Acetabular Reaming



     

- Patient Position:
    - ensure that patient has not rotated anteriorly, for this may allow acetabular component to be placed in retroverted position;
    - ensure that patient's torso is not tilted inferiorly (as can occur from a bean bag), as this can cause reaming in an excessive verticle position;


- Acetabular Exposure
    - an unobstructed view of the acetabulum is manditory;
    - ensure that femur is retracted anteriorly to allow passage of reamers;
         - if femur is inadequately retracted anteriorly, then it may force reamers posteriorly, and excessive reaming of posterior column will occur;
    - carefully dissect the transverse acetabular ligament from its bony attachments anteriorly & post
         - keep the blade superfical, to avoid brances of obturator artery, which pass beneath it;


- Identification of Acetabular Floor:


- Reaming Direction: (see adult femoral and acetabular anteversion and component position);
    - superior wall of the acetabulum is a slope that must be converted to a hemisphere;
    - reaming is directed more against the medial and posterior wall than towards the acetabular roof;
          - need to avoid plowing into the superior rim as larger reamers are used;
    - goal is to avoid translating the center of rotation laterally or superiorly;
    - usual goal is 20-30 deg of anteversion and 35-45 deg of abduction;
    - w/ pt in lateral recumbent position after incision is made, one finger is placed in sciatic notch & one finger on anterior superior spine;
          - w/ methylene blue, line is drawn on drapes between these 2 points;
          - one line was drawn between sciatic notch & anterior spine on the drapes and a 2nd line was drawn and flexed an additional 10 degrees;
    - w/ osteoarthritis: reaming is directed more centrally rather than peripherally;
    - w/ protrusio:
          - in severe acetabular protrusio reaming procedure is more aggressive and is directed peripherally and not centrally;
                 - therefore larger reamers and a larger cup is used;


- Reaming Depth:
    - remember that the goal is to obtain near complete coverage of the acetabular component;
    - use true floor of acetabulum as marker for depth of reaming;
    - reaming to depth that obliterates this U shaped portion of acetabulum usually converts the bony acetabulum to hemisphere;
    - initial reaming is done w/ instrument smaller than templated size;
    - initial use of a large reamer can destroy the superior rim, necessitating a bone graft for adequate coverage;
    - to avoid superior placement of acetabular component, initial reaming is directed more medially;
    - w/ use of progressively larger reamers, one may find that transverse acetabular ligament is hypertrophic and must be excised to allow
          larger reamers to enter the acetabulum; 
    - take care w/ use of a larger reamers as these can destroy the superior rim, necessitating a bone graft for adequate coverage
    - subchondral bone:
          - avoid reaming through the subchondral bone since this provides significant structural support;
          - dense sclerotic bone in one region of acetabulum may result in eccentric reamining and eccentric cup placement;
                 - a hall burr is useful to remove small portions of sclerotic bone which is causing a malposition of the reamer;
          - try to preserve subchondral bone, esp in superior aspect & periphery of acetabulum, but deepening acetabulum to obtain full seating of cup
                 in bone takes precedence over preserving subchondral bone;
          - take care not to penetrate the medial wall, unless controlled penetration is necessary to obtain sufficient cup coverage;
          - central portion of acetabulum requires more reaming than periphery;
          - excess bone in inferior margin of acetabulum may later cause head of femoral component to become levered out of cup superiorly during adduction;
                 - if more bone must be removed from inferior margin of acetabulum, note occurance of significant bleeding from obturator artery;
    - references:
          - The value of preoperative planning for total hip arthroplasty.  S. Eggli et al.  JBJS. Vol 80-B. No 3. May 1998. p 382.
          - Medial Protrusio Tech for Placement of a Porous, Hemispherical Acetabular Component in a THR in Patients Who Have Acetabular Dysplasia


- Completion of Reaming:
    - reaming is complete when all cartilage has been removed, reamers have cut bone out to periphery of acetabulum, and hemispheric shape has been produced;
    - need to avoid damage to the posterior column w/ progressively larger reamers;
          - note that w/ excessive anterversion the reamer will be directed into the posterior column and will "skive off" the anterior column;
                 - the surgeons hand nearest to the reamer, needs to keep a slight anterior directed force on the reamer so that it equally reams
                         the surfaces of the anterior and posterior acetabulum; 
    - final reamer:
          - final reamer is inclined firmly under the superior aspect of acetabular rim to ream the bone to a hemisphere from its normal sloped anatomy; 
                 - careful not to remove bone from the superior rim at this step;
          - final reamer size is determined by complete contact between the reamer and the acetabular rim
          - use the last reamers in reverse inorder to expand the acetabulum (and compacting the underlying bone) w/o removing bone stock;
    - trial shells:
          - trial shell that was the same size as the final reamer was then inserted; 
          - note final position of the shell in relation to the anterior and posterior walls (ie acetabular component position)
          - consideration for oversized components:
                  - trial prosthesis is placed & evaluated for fit; 
                  - if this trial shell can be buried down to its base with hand pressure, then next size of trial shell is inserted; 
                  - optimal trial size will not "bottom out" with gentle tapping of the mallet;
    - final preparation:
          - after satisfactory trial placement, acetabulum is further prepared by removing any remaining soft tissue & clearing out bone cysts; 
          - fill cysts with reamed bone graft and apply reamer in reverse to help impact the graft;


- Component Insertion:




- Case Example:
    - 35 year old male w/ near anklyosed hip following a GSW to the hip;
    - preoperative films appeared to indicate that little or no medialization was necessary;
    - postoperative films, however, indicate that the cup was lateralized (hence, reaming was inadequate);

           
           



Position, orientation and component interaction in dislocation of the total hip prosthesis.

Inaccuracy of acetabular reaming under surgical conditions.

Reamed surface topography and component seating in press-fit cementless acetabular fixation. 

Cementless Hemispheric Porous-Coated Sockets Implanted with Press-Fit Technique without Screws: Average Ten-Year Follow-up.

Cementless socket fixation based on the "press-fit" concept in total hip joint arthroplasty




Original Text by Clifford R. Wheeless, III, MD.

Last updated by Clifford R. Wheeless, III, MD on Sunday, September 6, 2009 11:21 am