gms | German Medical Science

Objectives: To evaluate the application of 3D-printing rapid prototyping in the classification of acetabular fracture and education of young surgeons.

Methods: 20 patients with acetabular fractures were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Random number for each 3D-printing models and series of conventional radiographs (AP pelvis, Judet views and CT scans) in the blind. Then, three professional orthopaedic surgeons and three resident orthopaedic surgeons independently classified each fracture using 3D-printing model alone and conventional radiographs alone. 4 weeks later, marked with random number again and repeated the above experiment. The kappa statistic was used to evaluate inter- and intraobserver agreement.

Results: At the first assessment, interobserver agreement of the conventional radiographs and 3D-printing model was 0.887 and 0.962 between professional surgeons, for the resident surgeons was 0.659 and 0.849. The second assessment showed intraobserver agreement was 0.906 for conventional radiographs and 0.925 for 3D-printing model in professional surgeons group. For the resident surgeons group the kappa statistic using conventional radiographs was 0.696, while using the model was 0.849.

Conclusions: Compared with conventional radiographs, 3D-printing could effectively enhance the reliability of acetabular fracture classification, and is more helpful for young surgeons understanding of these injuries that contribute to the medical education.