Imageless computer assisted navigation in ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasty vs. manual approach: a single-centre retrospective study

Background: Acetabular cup positioning is vital to the long-term survivorship of total hip arthroplasty (THA). Malalignment has been linked to dislocation, wear and osteolysis. Although there are many studies demonstrating the reduction in variability of cup positioning with computer-assisted techniques, there are relatively few reporting long-term patient reported outcomes and revision rates. Aim: The aim of this study was to review whether those patients who underwent navigated THA had better long-term survivorship or better patient reported outcomes. Methods: We compared revision rates and Oxford hip scores of 152 THAs (47 navigated and 105 non-navigated) performed at a single site between 2003 and 2008, with a minimum follow-up of 10 years. Results: 9 of the non-navigated and none of the navigated hips were revised at 10 year follow-up (p=0.057). There were no observable differences in 10-year Oxford hip scores between the navigated and non-navigated hips, 44.82 and 43.38 respectively. Conclusion: With respect to the rate of revision, although statistical significance was not achieved, it can be shown from our data that there was a clinically significant reduction in revision rates with navigated vs. non-navigated techniques. More data with higher patient numbers in the navigated cohort may be required to validate the results of our study.