The basic stress pathway above the acetabular dome is important for the maintenance of implant stability in acetabular reconstruction of total hip arthroplasty (THA). The purpose of this study was to describe the basic stress pathway to provide evidence for clinical acetabular reconstruction guidance of THA. A subject-specific finite element (FE) model was developed from CT data to generate 3 normal hip models and a convergence study was conducted to determine the number of pelvic trabecular bone material properties using 5 material assignment plans. In addition, in the range of 0 to 20 mm above the acetabular dome, the models were sectioned and the stress pathway was defined as two parts, i.e. 3D trabecular bone stress distribution and quantified cortical bone stress level. The results showed that using 100 materials to define the material property of pelvic trabecular bone could assure both the accuracy and efficiency of the FE model. Under the same body weight condition, the 3D trabecular bone stress distributions above the acetabular dome were consistent, and especially the quantified cortical bone stress levels were all above 20 MPa and showed no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). Therefore, defining the basic stress pathway above the acetabular dome under certain body weight condition contributes to design accurate preoperative plan for acetabular reconstruction, thus helping restore the normal hip biomechanics and preserve the stability of the implants.
Objective To summarize the characteristics and biomechanical research progress of common acetabular reconstruction techniques in patients with Crowe type Ⅱ and Ⅲ developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA), and provide references for selecting appropriate acetabular reconstruction techniques for clinical treatment of Crowe type Ⅱ and Ⅲ DDH. Methods The domestic and foreign relevant literature on biomechanics of acetabular reconstruction with Crowe type Ⅱ and Ⅲ DDH was reviewed, and the research progress was summarized.Results At present, there are many acetabular reconstruction techniques in Crowe type Ⅱ and Ⅲ DDH patients undergoing THA, with their own characteristics due to structural and biomechanical differences. The acetabular roof reconstruction technique enables the acetabular cup prosthesis to obtain satisfactory initial stability, increases the acetabular bone reserve, and provides a bone mass basis for the possible secondary revision. The medial protrusio technique (MPT) reduces the stress in the weight-bearing area of the hip joint and the wear of the prosthesis, and increases the service life of the prosthesis. Small acetabulum cup technique enables shallow small acetabulum to match suitable acetabulum cup to obtain ideal cup coverage, but small acetabulum cup also increases the stress per unit area of acetabulum cup, which is not conducive to the long-term effectiveness. The rotation center up-shifting technique increases the initial stability of the cup. Conclusion Currently, there is no detailed standard guidance for the selection of acetabular reconstruction in THA with Crowe type Ⅱ and Ⅲ DDH, and the appropriate acetabular reconstruction technique should be selected according to the different types of DDH.