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Fixation method for treatment of unstable distal clavicle fracture: systematic review and network meta-analysis

  • Original Article • SHOULDER - FRACTURES
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Abstract

Surgical management is recommended for unstable distal clavicle fractures. A variety of methods have been previously reported, but there is no current consensus regarding which method is most suitable. Therefore, we have conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis to compare postoperative shoulder function and complications between different fixation methods to identify which class of fixation is best for unstable distal clavicle fractures. We searched the literature systematically using eligibility criteria of all comparative studies that compared postoperative outcomes of coracoclavicular fixation (tight rope, screw or endobutton), hook plating, plate and screws, tension band wiring and transacromial pinning fixation for unstable distal clavicle fractures from PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases up to February 10, 2018. Two reviewers independently extracted data. A network meta-analysis was applied to combine direct and indirect evidence and to estimate the relative effects of the treatment options. The probability of being the best treatment was estimated using surface under the cumulative ranking curves (SUCRA). Ten comparative studies (n = 505 patients) with one RCT study (n = 42) met the inclusion criteria. Intervention included coracoclavicular fixation (n = 111 patients), hook plating (n = 300 patients), plate and screws (n = 41 patients), tension band wiring (n = 81 patients) and transacromial pinning (n = 14 patients). A network meta-analysis showed that CM scores of coracoclavicular fixation were significantly higher when compared to hook plate and tension band wiring, with pooled mean of 2.98 (95% CI 0.05–5.91) and 7.11 (95% CI 3.04–11.18). For UCLA, CC fixation and plate and screw fixation had significantly higher scores compared to hook plating fixation with a mean score 2.22 (95% CI 0.44–3.99) and 3.20 (95% CI 0.28–6.12), respectively. In terms of complications, plate and screw fixation had lower risk with RRs of 0.63 (95% CI 0.20–1.98), 0.37 (95% CI 0.19–0.72), 0.11 (95% CI 0.04–0.30) and 0.02 (95% CI 0.002–0.16) when compared to coracoclavicular fixation, hook plating, tension band wiring and transacromial pinning. The SUCRA probabilities of CC fixation were in the first rank with 96.8% for CMS, while plate and screw fixation were in the first rank with 67.7 and 93.8% for UCLA score and complications. We recommend using plate and screw and CC fixation as the first- and second-line treatment of unstable distal clavicle fractures. As the quality of studies for this meta-analysis was not high, larger and higher-quality randomized controlled trials are required to confirm these conclusions for informed clinical decision making.

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Abbreviations

CC:

Coracoclavicular

K-wires:

Kirschner wires

AC:

Acromioclavicular

CMS:

Constant Murley Score

UCLA:

University of California at Los Angeles

RCT:

Randomized controlled trial

SD:

Standard deviation

UMD:

Unstandardized mean difference

RR:

Relative risk

TBW:

Tension band wiring

TKW:

Transacromial Knowles pinning

SUCRA:

Surface under the cumulative ranking curves

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Acknowledgements

All authors declare no funding source or sponsor involvement in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, in writing the manuscript, and in submission of the manuscript for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopedic Department, Bangkok Hospital Udon, Udon Thani, Thailand

    Manusak Boonard & Pichet Ratanapongpean

  2. Orthopedics Department, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

    Sermsak Sumanont

  3. Orthopedic Department, Lerdsin General Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

    Alisara Arirachakaran & Wichan Kanchanatawan

  4. Orthopedics Department, Bangkok Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

    Eakachit Sikarinkul

  5. Sport and Orthopedic Center, Samitivej Hospital and Section for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

    Jatupon Kongtharvonskul

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  1. Manusak Boonard
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  2. Sermsak Sumanont
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  3. Alisara Arirachakaran
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  4. Eakachit Sikarinkul
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  7. Jatupon Kongtharvonskul
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Contributions

MB was responsible for the conception and design, collection and assembly of data, analysis and interpretation of the data, drafting of the manuscript, final approval of the article. SS was responsible for the conception and design, collection and assembly of data, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, final approval of the article. AA was responsible for the manuscript writing, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual contents and final approval of the article. ES was responsible for the manuscript writing, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual contents and final approval of the article. PR was responsible for collection and assembly of data. WK was responsible for collection and assembly of data. JK was responsible for the conception and design, collection and assembly of data, supervising analysis and interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual contents, final approval of the article and statistical expertise.

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Correspondence to Jatupon Kongtharvonskul.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Search term and strategy.

#1 Fracture distal clavicle.

#2 Fixations.

#3 #1 AND #2.

Appendix 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 Criteria for risk of bias assessment
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Boonard, M., Sumanont, S., Arirachakaran, A. et al. Fixation method for treatment of unstable distal clavicle fracture: systematic review and network meta-analysis. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 28, 1065–1078 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-018-2187-x

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