Plain Radiographs are a Useful Substitute for Computed Tomography in Evaluating Acetabular Cup Version.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study is to compare acetabular component version measurements from cross-table lateral (XTL) radiographs, anteroposterior pelvis (AP-P) and anteroposterior hip (AP-H) radiographs, and axial pelvic computed tomography (CT) scans.

METHODS

One hundred fifty hips met our inclusion criteria of having a CT, XTL, and AP-P done postoperatively. Version was measured by 2 authors. Pearson regression analysis assessed correlation between versions of the modalities. Analysis of variance testing compared the averages of the values as a whole and based on demographics. When available, comparisons were also done with AP-H radiographs.

RESULTS

Mean version for XTL and CT scan was 21.7° and 23.8°, respectively, whereas that from AP-P and AP-H radiographs was 12.5° and 17.2°, respectively. XTL and AP-H version measures were closely correlated with CT (P = .81), whereas AP-P measurements were only moderately correlated with CT (P = .75). AP-P and AP-H were significantly (P < .05) different from CT, whereas XTL was not (P = .36).

CONCLUSION

The XTL radiograph remains a useful, cheaper, and safer substitute for CT scan when assessing supine version in the postoperative setting.