Purpose
To compare plain radiographs with 3-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) data
for preoperative planning of arthroscopic lateral acromioplasty (ALA) for patients
in whom ALA was performed along with arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR).
Methods
Patients older than 25 years old who underwent ALA along with ARCR in our institution
between October 2019 and February 2021 were included in this study. Preoperative ALA
simulations were performed on plain radiographs and 3D models based on CT data. The
critical shoulder angle (CSA) was compared between simulations based on radiographs
and those based on 3D models. The ALA procedure was performed using the 3D model simulation,
along with ARCR. The CSA after surgery was investigated using radiographs.
Results
We evaluated 11 shoulders in 10 patients. There was no significant difference between
the mean preoperative CSA on radiographs and 3D models (38.0° ± 2.6° vs 38.6° ± 1.8°,
respectively; P = .55). The mean CSA after 4-mm ALA simulation using radiographs was not significantly
different to that using 3D models (34.1° ± 2.6° vs 34.3° ± 2.5°, respectively; P = .84). Four cases (36.4%) required 8-mm ALA to reduce the CSA to <35° on radiographic
analysis, and 2 (18.2%) required 8-mm ALA on 3D model analysis. The mean CSA on postoperative
radiographs was significantly smaller than that on preoperative radiographs (32.1°
± 2.7° vs 38.0° ± 2.6°, respectively; P < .01).
Conclusions
There was no significant difference between the mean CSA after a 4-mm ALA simulation
using radiographs and that using 3D models based on preoperative CT data, which suggests
that radiographs are comparable with 3D CT data models as a reliable modality for
the preoperative simulation of ALA.
Level of Evidence
III, retrospective comparative study.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 02, 2022
Accepted:
July 19,
2022
Received:
March 21,
2021
Footnotes
The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this article. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
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© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the Arthroscopy Association of North America.
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