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The impact of surgeon handedness in total hip replacement
N Pennington1, A Redmond, T Stewart
1NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, UK.
Introduction:
Total hip replacement (THR) is successful and performed commonly. Component placement is a determinant of outcome. Influence of surgeon handedness on component placement has not been considered previously. This study was a radiographic assessment of component positioning with respect to handedness. Early data from 160 patients are reported.
Methods:
Overall, 160 primary THRs for osteoarthritis were included. Equal numbers of left and right THRs were performed by four surgeons, two right-handed and two left-handed. Postoperative radiography was assessed for THR component position by measurement of leg length inequality, acetabular inclination and centre of rotation. Surgeons' handedness was assessed using the Edinburgh inventory.
Results:
For leg length inequality, no significant interaction was seen between hip side and surgeon handedness. Acetabular inclination angles showed a statistically significant difference, however, depending on hand dominance, with higher inclination angles recorded when operating on the dominant side. There was a trend towards greater medialisation of the centre of rotation on the non-dominant side although this did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions:
Surgeon handedness appears to influence acetabular component position during THR but it is one factor of many that interact to achieve a successful outcome.
