It is well known that spinopelvic mobility plays an important role in the positioning of the acetabular implant after total hip arthroplasty. A new study set out to determine whether this hypermobility persists or resolves after total hip arthroplasty.
The study was carried out in patients with preoperative posterior hypermobility, defined as a change in sacral slope from the standing to the seated position of ≥ 30°. Other radiographic parameters of the spinopelvic region were also assessed, such as pelvic incidence, lumbar lordosis etc.
In total, 136 patients with preoperative spinopelvic hypermobility were assessed and reviewed one year after total hip arthroplasty.
The investigators concluded that spinopelvic hypermobility resolves in the majority of patients one year after total hip arthroplasty. The increase in sacral slope in the seated position was clinically significant, indicating that current recommendations for positioning the acetabular implant in the hypermobile patient, with reduced acetabular anteversion and inclination, should be revised.
Source: “The Bone & Joint Journal”, December, 2021