Anterior pelvic soft tissue thickness influences acetabular cup positioning with imageless navigation

The purpose of this study was to investigate acetabular component position after total hip arthroplasty correlating both version and inclination to anterior pelvic soft tissue thickness. Thirty patients with a mean age of 66.5 ± 14 (28-87) years and an average body mass index of 30.04 ± 4.6 were included. The same surgeon operated on all 30 patients, using an anterolateral approach in a supine position and an imageless navigation system. Postoperative assessment of cup inclination, cup anteversion, and soft tissue thickness was measured by an independent research associate using computed tomographic scans. Pearson's moment correlations did not reveal any significant relationships between body mass index, soft tissue thickness, final intraoperative, or postoperative cup position. Anterior soft tissue thickness had no significant effect on the accuracy of acetabular cup positioning.