Proposal of accurate cup placement procedure during total hip arthroplasty based on pelvic tilt discrepancies in the lateral position

By combining the anatomical-pelvic-plane (APP) positioner with a newly improved navigation system during total hip arthroplasty (THA), it is theoretically possible to determine cup orientation based on the APP while tracking pelvic movement. The purpose of this study was to determine the navigation accuracy and whether the error is related to the pelvic position fixed by the positioner. Fifty hips that underwent primary THA between 2018 and 2020 were analysed. The accuracy was 2.34° at radiographic inclination (RI) and − 5.01° at radiographic anteversion (RA), and the error was within 10° at both RI and RA in only 40 of 50 hips (80.0%). The discrepancy in pelvic sagittal tilt was correlated with the cup orientation error and especially strongly correlated with the RA error (r = − 0.751, p < 0.001). When RI and RA were calculated using a correction formula to determine the true cup orientation based on the pelvic tilt discrepancies, the error in both RI and RA was within 10° in all cases (100%). The navigation accuracy is related to the pelvic position fixed by the positioner, and the correction formula for the target angle that considers pelvic tilt discrepancies can lead to accurate cup placement in the future.