A 3-dimensional Printed Molding Technique for the Management of Humeral Head Osteomyelitis

There are many methods of making cement spacer in patients who require a two-staged operation for humeral head osteomyelitis. However, limitation of motion after the first surgery-due to inadequate size and insufficient intra-articular space for second surgery-remain to be an issue. To mitigate this issue, we made a cement spacer with the same size and shape of the patient humeral head. Four patients with humeral head osteomyelitis were enrolled in this study. To make the cement spacer, we used the Mimics program, and designed the molding box by a reverse engineering technique. We evaluated the range of motion and pain using a Constant score. The mean abduction was $50^{\circ}$($40^{\circ}-60^{\circ}$), forward flexion was $50^{\circ}$ ($30^{\circ}-70^{\circ}$), and average Constant score was 47.75 (44-52). Three-dimensional printed molding technique is one of the effective methods for humeral head osteomyelitis allowing for daily activities prior to the second surgery.