Minimally Invasive versus Conventional Approaches in Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 47 Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Background: Recent meta-analyses have shown indifferent results between minimally invasive (MI) and conventional approach (CA) total hip arthroplasty (THA), not including the superior MI approach SuperPATH. The aim was to compare the surgical, functional and radiological outcomes and postoperative complications of MI THA, including SuperPATH, with CA THA in patients with hip disease or femoral neck fracture. Methods: PubMed, CNKI, The Cochrane Library, clinical trials, CINAHL and Embase were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing MI THA and CA THA up to 31 July 2023. Mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for continuous outcomes and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were calculated for dichotomous outcomes using a common effect/random effects model. The random effects model was used to present the results. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochrane Q test and the Higgins I2 test. Results: A total of 47 RCTs with 4086 THAs in 4063 patients were included in our meta-analysis. MI THA showed better results than CA THA in 8 of 18 outcome parameters studied. MI THA showed a higher Harris Hip Score (HHS) than CA THA at 0–1.5, 3, 6 and ≥12 months postoperatively (p < 0.01; p = 0.02; p = 0.01; p = 0.01). MI THA showed an indifferent overall postoperative complication risk compared to CA THA (p = 0.61). Acetabular positioning angles were within the safe zone in all approaches. Conclusions: The results of the meta-analysis suggest that MI THA has several advantages over CA THA in terms of short-term surgical and functional outcomes, with equal postoperative complication rates. We cannot recommend a change in surgical approach based on our results, as the differences between the investigated approaches did not reach minimal clinically important differences. Level of evidence I: a systematic review of all relevant randomized controlled trials.