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Three dimensional printing technology and materials for treatment of elbow fractures

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Abstract

Purpose

3D printing is a rapid prototyping technology that uses a 3D digital model to physically build an object. The aim of this study was to evaluate the peri-operative effect of 3D printing in treating complex elbow fractures and its role in physician–patient communication and determine which material is best for surgical model printing.

Method

Forty patients with elbow fractures were randomly divided into a 3D printing-assisted surgery group (n = 20) and a conventional surgery group (n = 20). Surgery duration, intra-operative blood loss, anatomic reduction rate, incidence of complications and elbow function score were compared between the two groups. The printing parameters, the advantages and the disadvantages of PLA and ABS were also compared. The independent-samples t-test was used to compare the data between groups. A questionnaire was designed for orthopaedic surgeons to evaluate the verisimilitude, the appearance of being true or real, and effectiveness of the 3D printing fracture model. Another questionnaire was designed to evaluate physician–patient communication effectiveness.

Results

The 3D group showed shorter surgical duration, lower blood loss and higher elbow function score, compared with the conventional group. PLA is an environmentally friendly material, whereas ABS produce an odour in the printing process. Curling edges occurred easily in the printing process with ABS and were observed in four of ten ABS models but in only one PLA model. The overall scores given by the surgeons about the verisimilitude and effectiveness of the 3D model were relatively high. Patient satisfaction scores for the 3D model were higher than those for the 2D imaging data during physician–patient discussions.

Conclusion

3D-printed models can accurately depict the anatomic characteristics of fracture sites, help surgeons determine a surgical plan and represent an effective tool for physician–patient communication. PLA is more suitable for desktop fused deposition printing in surgical modeling applications.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Department of Science and Technology of Guiyang City (20151001) and National Natural Science Foundation (81360232) China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

    Long Yang & Chuan Ye

  2. Center for Bioprinting and Biomanufacturing, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

    Long Yang & Chuan Ye

  3. Center for Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

    Long Yang, Zhixu He & Chuan Ye

  4. Department of Orthopaedics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA

    Brian Grottkau

  5. China Orthopaedic Regenerative Medicine Group (CORMed), Guiyang, China

    Chuan Ye

Authors
  1. Long Yang
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  2. Brian Grottkau
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  3. Zhixu He
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  4. Chuan Ye
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chuan Ye.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Yang, L., Grottkau, B., He, Z. et al. Three dimensional printing technology and materials for treatment of elbow fractures. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 41, 2381–2387 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-017-3627-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-017-3627-7

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