Comparison of bone morphogenetic protein and autologous grafting in the treatment of limb long bone nonunion: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have strong bone induction properties and can promote healing of fractures and other defects. However, BMP treatment efficacy for long bone nonunion remains controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to synthetically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of BMP plus bone grafting (observation group) versus autologous bone grafting (control group) for limb long bone nonunion. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, OVID, CNKI, Weipu Journal, Chinese Biomedical Literature, and WanFang were searched for randomized and non-randomized controlled trials published before November 2019. A meta-analysis of outcome indicators was performed using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0. RESULTS: Five randomized and four non-randomized controlled trials involving 30–124 cases were included, with a total of 655 nonunion cases. There were no significant group differences in postoperative healing rate, infection, and secondary operation rates (P > 0.05), but the study group demonstrated significantly shorter mean healing time (WMD = − 1.27, 95%CI − 1.67 to − 0.88, P < 0.00001), a greater frequency of excellent/good post-treatment limb function (RR = 1.18, 95%CI 1.01–1.39, P = 0.04), and lower intraoperative blood loss (P < 0.05). Alternatively, the hospitalization cost was significantly higher in the study group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Bone morphogenetic protein is a viable alternative to autologous bone grafting, with potential advantages of accelerated fracture healing and improved postoperative function.