Change in pelvic sagittal tilt after corrective long fusion of spine

The individual pelvic sagittal inclination (PSI) is an issue for cup alignment in total hip arthroplasty (THA). The pelvic position in supine or functional pelvic plane in supine have been recommended by many reports while some consider a standing pelvic position as the reference to aim an optimal cup alignment. PSI changes in various postures and even in the same posture, aging change it due to spinal degeneration and muscle weakness. The chronological PSI change is larger in standing than that in supine. It is expected that PSI in standing position may improve when spinal long fusion was performed.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the change of PSI between pre- and post- corrective long fusion for adult spinal deformity (ASD). Total eight patients underwent corrective surgery for ASD between May 2014 and October 2016 were the subjects of this study. All are females with the average age of 70 years. There were two cases that underwent bilateral THA before spine surgery. The anterior pelvic plane (APP) through the most anterior aspect of the pubic tubercle and bilateral anterior superior iliac spines (ASISs) was used to measure PSI, which was defined as the angle between the APP and the vertical axis on the sagittal plane DRR. In addition, we measured the cup anteversion in two THA cases by using viewer software. The mean change in the preoperative PSI from supine to standing was 17° posteriorly. The mean change in the supine PSI from pre- to post-operation was 6.9° anteriorly, and that in the standing PSI was 17° anteriorly. The mean change in the postoperative PSI from supine to standing was 6.7° posteriorly. When we measured PSI on standard AP radiographs of the pelvis in two patients who underwent THA, the mean change in postoperative PSI from supine to standing was less than 3°.The mean change in cup anteversion on supine AP radiographs were 2.7°. As we expected, the change in PSI from supine to standing position was reduced by performing corrective surgery. In this study, the mean change of radiographic cup anteversion in supine after corrective long fusion was 2.7°and PSI in standing changed into the direction which reduce posterior impingement and anterior dislocation. Although the change in PSI after corrective spine surgery heavily depends on the spine surgeon’s philosophy of correction, corrective spine surgery should have a positive effect on cup alignment in standing and little influence on cup alignment in supine.