A systematic review—meta-analysis of venous thromboembolic events following primary hip arthroscopy for FAI: clinical and epidemiologic considerations

The purpose of this study was to report the proportion of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) in patients undergoing primary hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and present a critical overview of the literature to aid in better result interpretation. MedLine, Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched from January 2000 to March 2017. Four thousand-five-hundred and seventy-seven hip cases were included in the meta-analysis of 38 studies. The mean age of patients was 36 ± 1.8 years and the mean follow-up time was 20.6 months. The meta-analysed rate of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients undergoing primary hip arthroscopy for FAI syndrome was 1.18%; 95%CI [0.8–1.74%]; The meta-analysed rate of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients undergoing primary hip arthroscopy for FAI syndrome was 0.59%; 95%CI [0.38–0.92%]. Quality assessment was performed using the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) criteria the Quality in Prognostic Studies (QUIPS) tool. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess for publication bias and its influence on the results. The corrected for publication bias proportion of DVT was 2.02%; 95%CI [1.36–2.99%]. The DVT rate was double following the correction of bias while additional types of bias were detected. Attention must be paid when considering the outcomes of observational studies to make clinical decisions. Insufficient evidence exists to support whether anti-VTE chemoprophylaxis should be administered to patients undergoing primary hip arthroscopy for FAI. Due to the life-threatening character of this complication, the results should serve as starting point to design clinical trials and establish guidelines. Until then, the application of preventive measures against VTE should be decided on a case-by-case basis.