Comparison of Postoperative Complications Between Trochanter Flip Osteotomy and Kocher-Langenbeck Approaches for the Treatment of Femoral Head Fractures: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe study aims to identify the optimal approach for femoral head fracture (FHF) by comparing the postoperative complications and outcome score of the Kocher-Langenbeck posterior approach (KLP) and trochanteric flip osteotomy (TFO) through a systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsMEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for studies published up to 22 January 2023, which compared TFO to the KLP for FHF treatment. The main outcomes of this meta-analysis were the rate of postoperative complications including osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), heterotopic ossification (HO), and total hip replacement (THR) conversion rate and Thompson-Epstein (T-E) score at the final follow-up.ResultsWe included four studies with 57 cases of FHFs; 27 and 30 patients underwent TFO and the KLP, respectively. Following the pooled analysis, HO incidence was significantly higher in TFO than in the KLP (OR = 4.03; 95% CI 1.10-14.81; P = 0.04; I-2 = 0%), but there were no differences in other variables, including the incidence of ONFH (OR = 0.41; 95% CI 0.07-2.35; P = 0.32; I-2 = 0%), THR conversion rate (OR = 0.82; 95% CI 0.16-4.29; P = 0.81; I-2 = 0%), and number of inferior results in the T-E score (OR = 0.49; 95% CI 0.14-1.73; P = 0.27; I-2 = 0%).ConclusionsAmongst the posterior approaches for FHFs, the KLP and TFO did not present significant clinical and radiological differences; hence, the approach can be selected depending on the surgeon's experience and preference.