Clinical experience with a fluoroscopy-based guidance system in orthopaedic surgery

Computer assisted systems are being used in orthopaedic surgery for many years. Different advantages were described in the literature, among these the most important are an improvement in accuracy of implant positioning and a reduction of ionising radiation [1]. However, most published works describe the use of such systems in spine and pelvis surgery. Its use in general orthopaedic surgery and especially in trauma surgery is limited to a few published works [2, 3]. Regular navigation systems depend on fixed reference devices that must be firmly attached to the subject of interest. This dependence limits its use in trauma surgery, since a fractured bone consists of different fragments and not all can be reached with fixed reference devices.