Background: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship among patients’ characteristics, intraoperative pathology and pre/post-operative symptoms in a cohort of patients undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for symptomatic meniscal tears. Methods: Clinical data were collected (age, sex, body mass index, time to surgery, trauma). Intraoperative cartilage pathology was assessed with Outerbridge score. Meniscal tears were graded with the ISAKOS classification. Synovial inflammation was scored using the Macro-score. Patient symptoms were assessed pre/post-operatively using the KOOS instrument. Results: In the series of 109 patients (median age 47 years), 50% of the meniscal tears were traumatic; 85% of patients showed mild to moderate synovitis; 52 (47.7%) patients had multiple cartilage defects and 31 (28.4%) exhibited a single focal chondral lesion. Outerbridge scores significantly correlated with patient age, BMI and synovial inflammation. There was a correlation between severity of chondral pathology and high-grade synovial hyperplasia. Pre-operative KOOS correlated with BMI, meniscal degenerative changes and symptom duration. Obesity, time to surgery, presence of high-grade synovial hyperplasia and high-grade cartilage lesions were independent predictors of worse post-operative pain and function. Conclusion: We demonstrated that pre-operative symptoms and post-operative outcomes correlate with synovitis severity and cartilage pathology, particularly in old and obese patients that underwent arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. Importantly, patients with a degenerative meniscal pattern and with longer time to surgery experienced more severe cartilage damage and, consequentially, pain and dysfunction. These findings are fundamental to identify patients suitable for earlier interventions.

This paper presents the application of a low-cost 3D printing technology in pre-operative planning and intra-operative decision-making. Starting from Computed Tomography (CT) scans, we were able to reconstruct a 3D model of the area of interest with a very simple and rapid workflow, using open-source software and an entry level 3D printer. The use of High Temperature Poly-Lactic Acid (HTPLA) by ProtoPasta allowed fabricating sterilizable models, which could be used within the surgical field. We believe that our method is an appealing alternative to high-end commercial products, being superior for cost and speed of production. It could be advantageous especially for small and less affluent hospitals that could produce customized sterilizable tools with little investment and high versatility.

Three-dimensional printed custom cutting guides (CCGs) are becoming more and more investigated in medical literature, as a patient-specific approach is often desired and very much needed in today’s surgical practice. Three-dimensional printing applications and computer-aided surgical simulations (CASS) allow for meticulous preoperatory planning and substantial reductions of operating time and risk of human error. However, several limitations seem to slow the large-scale adoption of 3D printed CCGs. CAD designing and 3D printing skills are inevitably needed to develop workflow and address the study; therefore, hospitals are pushed to include third-party collaboration, from highly specialized medical centers to industrial engineering companies, thus increasing the time and cost of labor. The aim of this study was to move towards the feasibility of an in-house, low-cost CCG 3D printing methodology for pediatric orthopedic (PO) surgery. The prototype of a femoral cutting guide was developed for its application at the IOR—Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute of Bologna. The element was printed with an entry-level 3D printer with a high-temperature PLA fiber, whose thermomechanical properties can withstand common steam heat sterilization without bending or losing the original geometry. This methodology allowed for extensive preoperatory planning that would likewise reduce the overall surgery time, whilst reducing the risks related to the intervention.

Improvements in software for image analysis have enabled advances in both medical and engineering industries, including the use of medical analysis tools to recreate internal parts of the human body accurately. A research analysis found that FDM-sourced elements have shown viability for a customized and reliable approach in the orthopedics field. Three-dimensional printing has allowed enhanced accuracy of preoperative planning, leading to reduced surgery times, fewer unnecessary tissue perforations, and fewer healing complications. Furthermore, using custom tools chosen for each procedure has shown the best results. Bone correction-related surgeries require customized cutting guides for a greater outcome. This study aims to assess the biopolymer-based tools for surgical operations and their ability to sustain a regular heat-sterilization cycle without compromising the geometry and fit characteristics for a proper procedure. To achieve this, a DICOM and FDM methodology is proposed for fast prototyping of the cutting guide by means of 3D engineering. A sterilization test was performed on HTPLA, PLA, and nylon polymers. As a result, the unique characteristics within the regular autoclave sterilization process allowed regular supplied PLA to show there were no significant deformations, whilst annealed HTPLA proved this material’s capability of sustaining repeated heat cycles due to its crystallization properties. Both of these proved that the sterilization procedures do not compromise the reliability of the part, nor the safety of the procedure. Therefore, prototypes made with a similar process as this proposal could be safely used in actual surgery practices, while nylon performed poorly because of its hygroscopic properties.

This work aims to present an in-house low-cost computer-aided simulation (CASS) process that was recently implemented in the preoperative planning of complex osteotomies for limb deformities in children. Five patients admitted to the Unit of Paediatric Orthopaedics and Traumatology from April 2018 to December 2019, for correcting congenital or post-traumatic limb deformities were included in the study. Three-dimensional (3D) digital models were generated from Computed Tomography (CT) scans, using free open-source software, and the surgery was planned and simulated starting from the 3D digital model. 3D printed sterilizable models were fabricated using a low-cost 3D printer, and animations of the operation were generated with the aim to accurately explain the operation to parents. All procedures were successfully planned using our CASS method and the 3D printed models were used during the operation, improving the understanding of the severely abnormal bony anatomy. The surgery was precisely reproduced according to CASS and the deformities were successfully corrected in four cases, while in one case, the intraoperative intentional undersizing of the bone osteotomy produced an incomplete correction of a congenital forearm deformity. Our study describes the application of a safe, effective, user-friendly, and low-cost CASS process in paediatric orthopaedics (PO) surgery. We are convinced that our study will stimulate the widespread adoption of this technological innovation in routine clinical practice for the treatment of rare congenital and post-traumatic limb deformities during childhood.