{
  "abstract": "Purpose: Traumatic bone defects are complex injuries associated with prolonged disability and limited reconstructive options. Three-dimensional printed (3DP) patient-specific implants provide anatomically matched, mechanically tailored solutions. This review synthesizes current clinical evidence regarding their use, effectiveness, and safety in trauma-related bone defects.\n\nMethods: MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus were searched from inception to February 17, 2025. Human studies reporting clinical outcomes of custom 3DP implants for traumatic bone defects were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality using the MINORS tool. Owing to heterogeneity in anatomy, defect characteristics, adjunctive procedures, and outcome definitions, a meta-analysis was not performed.\n\nResults: Twelve studies comprising 108 patients met inclusion criteria; most were retrospective, non-comparative case series (predominantly Level IV evidence). Titanium-based implants were most common (92 patients), followed by tantalum (9) and polyetheretherketone (5). Defect sites included the humerus, forearm, femur, tibia, and calcaneus. Union assessment methods varied, but confirmed union was frequently reported. For tibial defects, union was confirmed in 13/20 patients; four had indeterminate imaging and three declined a planned second-stage procedure. Functional outcomes generally improved. Reported complications were typically manageable, and no catastrophic implant failures were described, although follow-up duration was limited.\n\nConclusion: Current evidence suggests that patient-specific 3DP implants are a feasible reconstructive option for selected traumatic bone defects. However, evidence certainty remains very low, and prospective comparative studies with standardized reporting are required.\n\nLevel of evidence: IV (systematic review of primarily Level IV case series and retrospective studies).\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13018-026-07064-z.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1520 San Pablo St, Suite #2000, Los Angeles, CA 90033 USA",
    "Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada",
    "Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada",
    "Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada",
    "Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC Canada"
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "David Slawaska-Eng",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7535-0193"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nicholas Garbuz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Matthew Mellon"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "James Yan",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8630-247X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Emilie Sandman",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3502-3184"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Derek H. Rosenzweig"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Paul A. Martineau"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5sft5t9ysvjxp.bib",
  "cited_by": 2,
  "doi": "10.1186/s13018-026-07064-z",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13700128/",
  "id": "5sft5t9ysvjxp",
  "issns": [
    "1749-799X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13018-026-07064-z",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Systematic Review"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2713|Bone fractures and treatments"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7171683201",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13700128?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13700128",
  "pmid": "42928195",
  "published": "2026-07-29",
  "publisher": "BMC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5sft5t9ysvjxp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:37Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13700128",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13018-026-07064-z"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:20Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42928195",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928195"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2713|Bone fractures and treatments",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Clinical outcomes and surgical applications of 3D-printed patient-specific implants for traumatic bone defects: a scoping review",
  "title_text": "Clinical outcomes and surgical applications of 3D-printed patient-specific implants for traumatic bone defects: a scoping review",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:36:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5sft5t9ysvjxp",
  "venue": "Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research",
  "versions": []
}