[Clinical experience with the Siremobil Iso-C(3D) imaging system in pelvic surgery]

In pelvic and acetabular surgery intraoperative control of reduction and implant position is sometimes hard to achieve with conventional C-arm technology. The Siemens C-arm Iso-C(3D) imaging system enables axial cuts and two- or three-dimensional reconstructions to be generated. Following the good experience in surgery of the spine and extremities, its clinical applicability in pelvic surgery was evaluated in 30 patients in a prospective clinical trial. In all 20 patients with acetabular fractures reduction quality and implant position could be well assessed. In one postoperative examination an intraarticular screw placement was evident, which intraoperatively was not as clear and was revised. In one procedure an intraarticular fragment was visualized, and was extracted in the same procedure. In one procedure the use of the Iso-C(3D) system enabled the approach to be limited. In all ten pelvic ring injuries the osseous structures in the posterior pelvic ring could be visualized with an adequate image quality. Reduction quality and implant position could be assessed in all open and closed procedures. On two occasions the SI screws were navigated based upon the Iso-C(3D) dataset. Overall the use of the Iso-C(3D) system was successful in all cases. Image quality, which is clearly inferior to that of CT, was sufficient for the assessment of reduction quality and implant position. One revision was indicated, and one avoided. However, in spite of its advantages in pelvic surgery, handling, sterile covering and data transfer need to be improved. For bilateral pelvic injuries the image size is too small.