Orthopaedic 3D printing in orthopaedic medicine.

Orthopaedic surgeries are commonly extremely challenging, and innovations are required to overcome a series of recognised difficulties and improve patient outcomes. Complications, in particular, the high occurrence of infections, often leads to prolonged patient pain, implant failure and loss of functions. 3D printing technology provides an ideal opportunity to integrate cutting edge technologies to address the major identified clinical problems directly. 3D-printed orthopaedic implants, designed to fit anatomical defects or malformations precisely, can resolve the current limited availability of appropriate well-fitting patient-specific implant parts. Integrated technologies can be included to target postoperative infections, which is an increasingly important concern, particularly considering population demographic and health profile changes. Improved osteointegration technologies can be incorporated to overcome inadequate tissue adherence to implants and bone on-growth. With increasing numbers of patients now outliving their implants, loosening difficulties and premature implant failure rates using conventional technologies are projected to increase dramatically. With these projections, the emergence of 3D printing is a welcome reprieve for patients and surgeons alike. 3D printing technologies hold the promise of significantly advancing current orthopaedic implant capabilities, delivering bespoke customised site-specific implants, which resolve fundamental clinical problems and achieve better results for patients.