Objective:To investigate the efficacy of robot-assisted femoral tunnel localization in reconstruction of the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL).Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the 36 patients who had been admitted to Department of Sports Medicine, The Fourth Hospital of Wuhan between January 2019 and January 2022 due to recurrent patellar dislocation. There were 15 males and 21 females; age: 23.5 (18.3, 29.0) years; number of dislocations: 2.5 (2.0, 3.0). They were stratified into 2 cohorts based on utilization of robot-assistance. In the observation group (17 cases), the femoral tunnel localization was robot-assisted in MPFL reconstruction; in the control group (19 cases), the femoral tunnel localization was guided by C-arm fluoroscopy in MPFL reconstruction. The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, frequency of guide wire placement, visual analogue scale (VAS) at postoperative 1 d, patellar tilt angle (PTA) and the disparity between actual femoral tunnel insertion and ideal tunnel insertion point (Sch?ttle point) at postoperative 1 to 3 d, and Lysholm knee score and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score at the last follow-up.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up for 12.0 (10.3, 13.0) months. In the observation group, the operation time [(64.1±16.7) min], frequency of guide wire placement [1.0 (1.0, 2.0) times], VAS [2.5 (2.0, 3.0) points], and disparity between actual femoral tunnel insertion and ideal tunnel insertion point [(4.7±1.2) mm] were significantly better than those in the control group [(84.2±19.7) min, 3.0 (2.0, 4.0) times, 3.5 (3.0, 4.0) points, and (6.1±1.2) mm] ( P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the 2 groups in PTA, Lysholm knee score or IKDC score ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The short-term clinical efficacy of robot-assisted femoral tunnel localization is satisfactory in MPFL reconstruction. Compared with the intraoperative C-arm fluoroscopy, robot-assisted localization can decrease the frequency of guide wire placement, enhance femoral tunnel accuracy and efficiency, and alleviate more postoperative pain for the patients.

Objective:To evaluate the reliability of a region-locked 3D-printed template combined with a bi-directional matching scheme in assistance of screw placement for thoracolumbar fractures.Methods:From January 2019 to March 2023, 52 patients with thoracolumbar fracture were treated at Department of Orthopedics, The People's Hospital of Liyang. They were 29 males and 23 females, with an age of (58.2±13.3) years. They were divided into a template group and a free-hand group according to the different screw placements. In the template group of 25 cases, a region-locked 3D-printed template combined with a bi-directional matching scheme was used to assist the pedicle positioning; in the free-hand group of 27 cases, the free hand screw placement was assisted only by image data and C-arm fluoroscopy. The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency, intraoperative blood loss, complications, and placement accuracy were compared between the 2 groups. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), and anterior height ratio of the injured vertebra were compared between preoperation, 1 week postoperation, and the final follow-up, as well as between the 2 groups.Results:There were no statistically significant differences in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up for (11.2±4.2) months. The differences were not statistically significant between the 2 groups in intraoperative blood loss, rate of complications, VAS or ODI at preoperation, 1 week postoperation, or the final follow-up, or in anterior height ratio of the injured vertebra ( P>0.05). In the template group, the operation time [(80.1±18.5) min] was significantly longer than that in the free-hand group [(69.4±16.6) min], the intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency [2 (2, 3) times] significantly lower than that in the free-hand group [3 (3, 4) times], and the placement accuracy [98.4% (127/129)] significantly higher than that in the free-hand group [91.8% (112/122)] (all P<0.05). All patients showed significant improvements in VAS, ODI and anterior height ratio of the injured vertebra at postoperative 1 week compared with the preoperative values, and the improvements at the last follow-up were significantly larger than those at postoperative 1 week ( P<0.05). No injury to the spinal cord, nerve root or blood vessel was observed postoperatively. Conclusions:In the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures, the screw placement assisted by a region-locked 3D-printed template combined with a bi-directional matching scheme is better than free-hand screw placement in terms of improved accuracy and reduced fluoroscopy, but the former incurs longer operative exposure than the latter. There is no significant difference between the 2 methods of screw placement in clinical efficacy.

Objective:To compare the efficacy of pedicle screw placement between computer navigation guidance and freehand assistance in the surgical treatment of isthmic spondylolysis at the lumbar vertebrae.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the 47 patients with bilateral isthmic spondylolysis at the L 5 vertebra who had been treated at Department of Spinal Surgery, The General Hospital of Xinjiang Military Command from January 2020 to April 2023. All were male patients with an age of (24.0±4.3) years. They were divided into a study group (13 cases subjected to pedicle screw placement assisted by computer navigation guidance) and a control group (34 cases subjected to pedicle screw placement assisted freehandedly). The 2 groups were compared in terms of surgical incision length, intraoperative bleeding, screw placement time, postoperative hospital stay, total hospitalization cost, postoperative complications, rate of screw reposition, angle between pedicle screw and upper endplate, angle between bilateral pedicle screws, and placement accuracy; the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score for lumbar spine function, and Oswestry disability index (ODI) were also compared between preoperation, 1-week postoperation, and the last follow-up. Patient satisfaction was assessed according to the modified MacNab criteria, and internal fixation failure and isthmic healing were also evaluated at the last follow-up. Results:There were no statistically significant differences in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). The differences were not statistically significant in surgical incision length, intraoperative bleeding, screw placement time, postoperative hospital stay, or postoperative complications ( P>0.05). However, in the study group, the total hospitalization cost was significantly higher than that in the control group, the rate of screw reposition [7.7% (2/26)] significantly lower than that in the study group [26.5% (18/68)], the angle between pedicle screw and upper endplate and the angle between bilateral pedicle screws were both significantly smaller than those in the control group, and the placement accuracy [92.3% (24/26)] was significantly greater than that [70.6% (48/68)] in the control group (all P<0.05). All patients were followed up for 7.0 (5.0, 14.0) months. Patients in both groups showed significant improvements in VAS, JOA score, and ODI at postoperative 1 week and the last follow-up compared with the preoperative values, and the improvements at the last follow-up were significantly larger than those at postoperative 1 week ( P<0.05). According to the modified MacNab criteria at the last follow-up, patient satisfaction was rated as excellent in 10 cases, as good in 2 cases and as moderate in 1 case in the study group while as excellent in 27 cases, as good in 3 cases, as moderate in 3 cases and as poor in 1 case in the control group. In the study group, there were 1 case of internal fixation failure, 1 case of spine cutting-out by titanium cable, and 12 cases of bony healing of the isthmus; in the control group, there were 2 cases of internal fixation failure, 2 cases of spine cutting-out by titanium cable, and 29 cases of bony healing of the isthmus. Conclusions:In the surgical treatment of bilateral isthmic spondylolysis at the L 5 vertebra, computer navigation-guided pedicle screw placement is safe and reliable, showing an advantage of higher accuracy over freehand placement. It deserves clinical promotion due to its satisfactory therapeutic effects.

Objective:To explore the feasibility and application value of an automated method for generation of surgical records for resection of benign soft tissue tumor based on dense video descriptions.Methods:The Transformer deep learning model was used to establish an automated surgical record generation system to analyze the surgical videos of 30 patients with benign soft tissue tumor who had been admitted to Department of Orthopedics, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University from September 2021 to August 2023. The patient data were randomly divided into training sets, validation sets, and test sets in a ratio of 8∶1∶1. In the test sets, 7 evaluation indexes, BLEU-1, BLEU-2, BLEU-3, BLEU-4, Meteor, Rouge, and CIDEr, were used to evaluate the text quality of surgical records generated by the model. The text of surgical records was compared with the classical algorithm, dense video captioning with paralled decoding (PDVC) in the field of video-intensive description.Results:The automated surgical record generation system running in the test sets showed the following: BLEU-1, BLEU-2, BLEU-3, BLEU-4, Rouge, Meteor, and CIDEr were 16.80, 15.23, 13.01, 11.68, 16.01, 12.67 and 62.30, respectively. The operation of the classical algorithm PDVC showed the following: BLEU-1, BLEU-2, BLEU-3, BLEU-4, Rouge, Meteor, and CIDEr were 15.63, 14.17, 11.90, 10.45, 12.97, 11.99 and 53.64, respectively. The automated surgical record generation system resulted in significant improvements compared with PDVC in all evaluation indexes. The BLEU-4, Rouge, Meteor, and CIDEr were improved by 1.23, 3.04, 0.68 and 8.66, respectively, demonstrating that the system proposed can better capture the key data in the video to help generate more effective text records.Conclusion:As the automated surgical record generation system shows good performance in generating surgical records for resection of benign soft tissue tumor based on intensive video descriptions, it can be applied in clinical practice.

Extended reality (XR) includes a variety of visualisation technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. It refers to a combination of the real and the virtual entities through computers to create a virtual environment where human and computer can interact, characterized by immersion, interactivity, conceptualization, and combination of reality and fiction. Recently, great progress has been made in the application of XR in the fields of medical education, precision medicine, telemedicine, surgical assistance and navigation so that XR has drawn increasing attention. This paper briefly describes the concept of XR and its technological development, expounds its clinical application in orthopedics, surgery in particular, analyzes the existing problems and difficulties, and predicts its future development trend. This review may help readers gain a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the history, current status and future development of intelligent orthopaedics based on XR technology.

Digital intelligence technologies, including artificial intelligence, big data, surgical navigation, surgical robots, and virtual reality, have been widely used in basic and clinical research in trauma and orthopedics. In order to provide trauma orthopedists with a quick overview of the current application of these technologies, this paper elaborates on the orthopedic workflow of fracture open reduction and internal fixation, on the aspects of recognition and classification of fracture X-ray images, fracture fragment segmentation based on thin-slice CT images, virtual fracture reduction, 3D fracture line heatmaps, design of an anatomical locking plate, intelligent navigation and orthopedic surgical robots, fracture reduction robots, and surgical process visualization.

With advancement of science and technology and consequent increasing demands, digital technology has become more and more important in the field of spinal surgery. It provides spinal surgeons with more information, support and assistance to improve the diagnostic accuracy, surgical efficiency, surgical safety, and surgical quality. It also offers new possibilities and opportunities for education, communication, and doctor-patient interaction in medicine. This article reviews the applications and advances of digital technology in the field of spinal surgery, mainly covering 3D printing, surgical navigation, virtual reality and augmented reality, surgical robots, and artificial intelligence. It also analyzes the latest research progress at home and abroad, limitations and challenges, and the future development trends of digital technology.

The medical metaverse is a combination of medicine and other cutting-edge technologies such as computer and information ones. In the medical metaverse, medical knowledge in the real world will be transformed into a digital form, so that activities concerning diagnosis, treatment, education and clinical practice can be carried out in a virtual environment. Based on the latest research advances at home and abroad, this review expounds on the medical metaverse from the aspects of supporting technologies, applications in clinic and medical education, current deficiencies and future development.

Osseointegrated prostheses provide a rehabilitation option for amputees. Due to their greater mobility, better satisfaction, and higher use than traditional socket prostheses, they have been employed in transhumeral, transradial, transfemoral, transtibial, and other hand and finger amputations. They are perceived by their users as part of their own body (high embodiment) because they have enhanced motor-sensory capability of the stump. An osseointegrated robotic limb also can be equipped with sensory-motor integration and targeted muscle reinnervation. This article reviews the problems of prosthetic adaptation, the technological development, surgical protocols, complications, and prognosis in osseointegrated prostheses, and discusses their future application and development.

Objective:To compare the medium and long-term efficacy between the deltoid split approach and the conventional deltopectoral approach in locking plate fixation for proximal humerus fractures.Methods:A retrospective study was performed in the 65 patients with proximal humerus fracture who had been operatively treated at Department of Orthopedics, The Third People's Hospital of Nantong from January 2018 to December 2020. They were 20 males and 45 females with an age of (64.6±9.2) years. Of them, 34 were assigned to fixation with proximal humerus internal locking system (PHILOS) through the deltoid split approach (minimally invasive group), and 31 to PHILOS fixation through the deltopectoral approach (conventional group). The 2 groups were compared in terms of general data, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, fracture union time, intraoperative fluoroscopy, postoperative 2-year imaging scores, and Constant-Murley shoulder score at the last follow-up.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). In the minimally invasive group and the conventional group, respectively, the intraoperative blood loss was (97.9±16.6) mL and (155.8±27.4) mL, and the frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy (12.0±1.8) times and (6.7±1.8) times, both showing a statistically significant difference ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in operation time, hospital stay, or fracture union time ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up for (43.9±5.5) months. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in postoperative 2-year imaging scores ( P>0.05). Compared with the conventional group, patients in the minimally invasive group had significantly lower Constant-Murley strength scores and significantly lower Constant-Murley scores for the Neer four-part fractures ( P<0.05). Postoperatively, one case of screw protrusion and one case of complete ischemic necrosis occurred in both groups while one case of partial ischemic necrosis was observed in the minimally invasive group and 3 cases of partial ischemic necrosis were observed in the conventional group. Conclusions:In locking plate fixation for proximal humerus fractures, compared with the deltopectoral approach, the deltoid split approach shows advantages of less soft tissue damage, less intraoperative bleeding, and less destruction of the blood supply to the humeral head. However, the deltopectoral approach may be more appropriate for the Neer four-part fractures.