Background: Most orthopedists are right-handed. However, osteoarthritis occurs with
equal frequency over both sides. Does perfect and effective arthroplasty
surgery require ambidextrous motor skills? Objectives: In this study, we
aimed to investigate the clinical features of arthroplasty for hip and knee joints
(THR and TKR) on different sides affected by orthopedist laterality. Patients
and Methods: All right-handed orthopedists performed 64 right and 52 left
primary THR among 100 patients, and 115 right and 118 left primary TKR among 192
patients. Clinical and surgical features were retrospectively reviewed and
analyzed. The body mass index (BMI), inner diameter of acetabular cup liners
(ACD), diameter of the femoral head (FHD), diameter of the femoral stem (FSD),
and the femoral neck length (FNL) were included in THR-receiving patients. The BMI,
femoral component (FC) size, tibial plate (TP) size, and thickness of articular
surface inserts (ASI) were included in TKR-receiving patients. Results: No
significant differences were observed in ACD, FHD and FSD between patients
receiving right and left THR groups (p = 0.16, 0.11, and 0.05, respectively). Similarly, there were no significant
differences in FC, TP, and ASI between patients receiving right and left TKR
groups (p = 0.06, 0.80, and 0.46, respectively).
However, FNL in left THR group was significantly longer than that in right THR group (p = 0.01). Conclusion: This study showed that dexterity or proprioception in
handedness had no affect on bone resection and thicknesses of the polyethylene
in TKR and acetabular reaming and femoral canal rasping in THR. However, it did
lead to differences in femoral neck resection. Right-handed orthopedists
significantly tend to perform excessive femoral neck cutting or prefer the
larger size of FNL when performing left side THR, while no differences occur
when performing TKR.
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