A simplified guide ruler from numeric table method in doing rotational osteotomy

Abstract

Background. Kobeljić et al. recently reported a numeric table method to provide precise rotational osteotomy which is a well established orthopaedic procedure. The numeric table requires four pages in length that is rather inconvenient during performing an osteotomy operation Methods. We thus develop our own method by summarizing the data of the four-page table into a small ruler, which is easy to carry and use in operation room. An electrical version of this ruler is also available. We also build a computer model to verify Kobeljić et al. method. Results. The error of Kobeljić et al. is between -37% to 16% (mean ± SD = -6% ± 9%). We verify our ruler by calculating the absolute difference between our method and that of Kobeljić et al. The difference is less than 0.1 mm. Conclusion. Our ruler is convenient for practical use for the rotational osteotomy procedure with equal precision. Further clinical verification is needed to justify its real significance. © 2008 Liaw et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.