Cemented versus uncemented hemiarthroplasty for the management of femoral neck fractures in the elderly: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Introduction

Hemiarthroplasty is commonly used to treat unstable femoral neck fractures in older patients. However, there is no consensus on the use of cement during hemiarthroplasty. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to focus on the outcomes of cemented and uncemented hemiarthroplasty for the treatment of femoral neck fractures in older patients.

Materials and methods

Pubmed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Ovid were searched for studies related comparison of cemented versus uncemented hemiarthroplasty for unstable femoral neck fractures from inception to Jan 20, 2020. The quality of the included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. The meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.2 software.

Results

Eleven RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. Cemented hemiarthroplasty was found to be superior to uncemented arthroplasty with respect to reoperation rate (RR 0.6, 95% CI 0.38–0.96, p = 0.03), complications related to prosthesis (RR 0.39, 95% CI 0.23–0.68, p = 0.0008), residual pain (RR 0.66, 95% CI 0.52–0.83, p = 0.0004), and operation time (MD 8.22, 95% CI 6.30–10.14, p < 0.00001). There were no significant between-group differences with respect to local and general complications, duration of hospital stay, hip function, and mortality.

Conclusions

This meta-analysis showed cemented hemiarthroplasty might be an optimum choice for treating unstable femoral neck fractures in older patients. However, the results of this meta-analysis should be interpreted cautiously owing to some limitations. Further studies are required to provide more robust evidence.