Treatment of trochanteric fractures with proximal femoral nail antirotation or dynamic hip screw systems: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: A meta-analysis to compare the intraoperative and postoperative outcome data for the proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA) and dynamic hip screw (DHS) implant systems for the treatment of patients with trochanteric fractures.

Methods: A detailed search of several electronic databases was undertaken to identify randomized controlled trials published before 5 December 2011 that compared PFNA with DHS in patients with trochanteric fractures.

Results: A quantitative meta-analysis of 11 studies including 798 patients was performed. PFNA was associated with significant reductions in duration of surgery (weighted mean difference [WMD] -21.38 min; 95% confidence interval [CI] -33.50, -9.26 min), intraoperative blood loss (WMD -176.36 ml; 95% CI -232.20, -120.52 ml), rate of fixation failure (relative risk [RR] 0.27, 95% CI 0.11, 0.62) and rate of postoperative complications (RR 0.46; 95% CI 0.31, 0.70) compared with DHS.

Conclusion: The use of PFNA for treatment of trochanteric fractures was found to be superior to DHS in terms of the duration of surgery, intraoperative blood loss, and rates of fixation failure and overall complications.