Comparison of rehabilitation outcomes between robot-assisted and freehand screw placement in treatment of femoral neck fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose To compare the postoperative rehabilitation of femoral neck fractures treated with robot-assisted nailing and freehand nailing. Methods We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), WanFang database, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP) and Web of Science databases to identify potentially eligible articles. Indispensable data such as the year of publication, country, study type, robot type, age, number of patients, sex distribution, study design, and outcome indicators were extracted. The outcome indicators of interest included healing rate, length of healing time, Harris score, operation time, frequency of X-ray fluoroscopy, frequency of guide pin insertion, and intraoperative blood loss. RevMan 5.4.1 was used for the meta-analysis. Results Fourteen studies with 908 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that in terms of healing rate (SMD = 2.75, 95% CI, 1.03 to 7.32, P = 0.04) and Harris score (SMD = 2.27, 95% CI, 0.79 to 3.75, P = 0.003), robot-assisted screw placement technique scores were higher than the traditional freehand technique. Additionally, operative time (SMD = -12.72, 95% CI, -19.74 to -5.70, P = 0.0004), healing time (SMD = -13.63, 95% CI, -20.18 to -7.08, P < 0.0001), frequency of X-ray fluoroscopy (SMD = − 13.64, 95% CI, − 18.32 to − 8.95, P < 0.00001), frequency of guide pin insertion (SMD = − 7.95, 95% CI, − 10.13 to − 5.76, P < 0.00001), and intraoperative blood loss (SMD = − 17.33, 95% CI, − 23.66 to − 11.00, P < 0.00001) were lower for patients who underwent robotic-assisted screw placement than those for patients who underwent the conventional freehand technique. Conclusion Compared to the freehand nailing technique, robot-assisted nailing helps improve postoperative healing rates in patients with femoral neck fractures; shortens healing times; better restores hip function; reduces the number of intraoperative fluoroscopies, guides pin placements; reduces intraoperative bleeding; and increases perioperative safety.