Morris SC, Gowd AK, Agarwalla A, Phipatanakul WP, Amin NH, Liu JN. Fragility of statistically significant findings from randomized clinical trials of surgical treatment of humeral shaft fractures: A systematic review. World J Orthop 2022; 13(9): 825-836 [PMID: 36189338 DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i9.825]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Joseph N Liu, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, USC Epstein Family Center for Sports Medicine, 950 Downey Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States. josephnliu@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Systematic Reviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Orthop. Sep 18, 2022; 13(9): 825-836 Published online Sep 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i9.825
Table 1 Included randomized controlled trials with characteristics
First author (last name)
Journal
Year
Comparison
Patients enrolled
Patients lost to follow up
Final study, n
JADAD score
Power analysis
Kim
J Orthop Trauma
2015
ORPO (LCP) vs MIPO
72
4
68
3
Yes
Esmailiejah
Trauma Mon
2015
ORPO (DCP) vs MIPO
68
3
65
3
No
Fan
Orthopedics
2015
ORPO (LCP) vs IMN
60
0
60
2
Yes
Hadhoud
Menoufia Medical Journal
2015
ORPO (LCP) vs MIPO
30
0
30
2
No
Wali
Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr
2014
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
50
0
50
2
No
Benegas
J Shoulder Elbow Surg
2014
MIPO vs IMN
41
1
40
3
Yes
Lian
Orthopedics
2013
MIPO vs IMN
56
9
47
3
No
Li
J Shoulder Elbow Surg
2011
ORPO (LCP) vs IMN
50
5
45
3
Yes
Iqbal
Annals of King Edward Medical University
2011
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
40
0
40
3
No
Singisetti
Int Orthop
2010
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
45
9
36
1
No
Putti
J Orthop Surg (Hong Kong)
2009
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
34
0
34
2
No
Changulani
Int Orthop
2007
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
47
2
45
3
No
Kesemenli
Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc
2003
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
60
0
60
2
No
McCormack
J Bone Joint Surg (Br)
2000
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
44
3
41
2
No
Chapman
J Orthop Trauma
2000
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
89
5
84
3
No
Table 2 Summary characteristics of included randomized controlled trials
Characteristic
No.
% or range
Initial sample size, mean No.
52.4
(30-89)
Lost to follow up, mean No.
2.7
(0-9)
Final sample size, mean No.
49.7
(30-84)
Power analysis
4
26.7%
Comparison groups
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
8
53.3%
ORPO (LCP) vs IMN
2
13.3%
MIPO vs IMN
2
13.3%
ORPO (LCP) vs MIPO
2
13.3%
ORPO (DCP) vs MIPO
1
6.7%
Outcome assessed
Delayed union/nonunion
15
100.0%
Iatrogenic radial nerve palsy
15
100.0%
Infection
14
93.3%
Secondary surgeries
11
73.3%
Shoulder impingement
10
66.7%
Malunion
7
46.7%
Elbow stiffness
4
26.7%
Table 3 Fragility index values for each outcome for included randomized controlled trials
First author (last name)
Comparison
Delayed union/ Nonunion
Iatrogenic radial nerve palsy
Infection
Malunion
Shoulder Impingement
Elbow Stiffness
All complications
Secondary surgeries
Kim
ORPO (LCP) vs MIPO
0
0
0
0
NA
NA
0
0
Esmailiejah
ORPO (DCP) vs MIPO
0
0
0
0
NA
NA
0
0
Fan
ORPO (LCP) vs IMN
0
0
NA
NA
NA
NA
0
NA
Hadhoud
ORPO (LCP) vs MIPO
0
0
0
NA
NA
NA
0
NA
Wali
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
NA
0
0
0
0
Benegas
MIPO vs IMN
0
0
0
0
0
NA
0
0
Lian
MIPO vs IMN
0
0
0
0
1
0
4
NA
Li
ORPO (LCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
2
NA
NA
0
NA
Iqbal
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
NA
0
NA
0
0
Singisetti
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
NA
0
0
0
0
Putti
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
NA
0
NA
0
0
Changulani
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
NA
1
NA
0
0
Kesemenli
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
1
0
NA
0
NA
0
0
McCormack
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
0
2
NA
6
1
Chapman
ORPO (DCP) vs IMN
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
Table 4 Summary of outcomes with reported differences between groups
Continuous variable
Superior treatment
Inferior treatment
First author (last name)
Time to union
IMN
ORPO
Changulani
Time to union
IMN
ORPO
Fan
Operative time
IMN
ORPO
Fan
Operative time
IMN
ORPO
Wali
Operative time
MIPO
IMN
Lian
Operative time
MIPO
ORPO
Hadhoud
Intraoperative blood loss
IMN
ORPO
Fan
Intraoperative blood loss
IMN
ORPO
Wali
Intraoperative blood loss
MIPO
IMN
Lian
Hospital stay
IMN
ORPO
Fan
Hospital stay
IMN
ORPO
Wali
Constant scores
MIPO
IMN
Li
Rodriguez-Merchan criteria
DCP
IMN
Singisetti
Shoulder ROM
MIPO
IMN
Li
Shoulder ROM
DCP
IMN
Chapman
Elbow ROM
IMN
DCP
Chapman
Citation: Morris SC, Gowd AK, Agarwalla A, Phipatanakul WP, Amin NH, Liu JN. Fragility of statistically significant findings from randomized clinical trials of surgical treatment of humeral shaft fractures: A systematic review. World J Orthop 2022; 13(9): 825-836