Computer-Assisted Preoperative Planning: The Future Is Now!

Iannotti et al. present a very interesting and useful investigation into the use of three-dimensional preoperative imaging and templating to assist in planning the positioning of the glenoid component during anatomic shoulder arthroplasty. Additionally, any possible benefit of patient-specific instrumentation was evaluated. To my knowledge, this is the first investigation into the clinical efficacy of this particular emerging technology. All too often, new technological innovations are rapidly adopted without any proven efficacy. This study provides evidence of the role of three-dimensional imaging and templating in the surgical treatment of patients with primary osteoarthritis. This article provides a glimpse into the near future of anatomic shoulder arthroplasty.

The Materials and Methods portion of this article was appropriate to achieve the goals of the study. The study consisted of a prospective, randomized controlled trial involving a comparison of patients undergoing three-dimensional imaging and templating with patients undergoing the same imaging and templating technique with the addition of patient-specific instrumentation to assist in glenoid component positioning; a third cohort of patients who had undergone conventional two-dimensional templating was used to serve as a historical control. The retrospective latter part of this study slightly weakens its experimental design. However, given that all of the surgical procedures were performed by experienced surgeons well into their learning curve, I doubt that prospectively collecting the data on the two-dimensional group would have appreciably impacted the results.

It is unclear why the authors included twenty-five patients in one group, twenty-one patients in another group, and seventeen patients in the third group. Because no patient was lost to follow-up or withdrew from the study, a better explanation of the choice of the number of the subjects to be included in each group seems warranted. This investigation was limited to a computed tomographic evaluation of glenoid component positioning at a short-term follow-up (less than three weeks). No clinical data are provided, nor would they have been useful that early in the postoperative period.