Comparisons of the surface micromotions of cementless femoral prosthesis in the horizontal and vertical levels: a network analysis of biomechanical studies

BACKGROUND: Numerous quantitatively biomechanical studies measuring the fixation stability of femoral stem using micromotions at the bone-implant interfaces in different directions and levels remain inconclusive. This network meta-analysis performed systematically aims to explore the rank probability of micromotions at the bone-implant interfaces based on biomechanical data from studies published. METHODS: Two electronic databases, PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase, were utilized to retrieve biomechanical studies providing the data of micromotions at the bone-stem interfaces. After screening and diluting out, the studies that met inclusion criteria will be utilized for statistical analysis. In order to contrast the stability of commonness and differences of the different parts of the femoral stem, the horizontal and vertical comparison of micromotions at the bone-implant interfaces were conducted using the pooled evaluation indexes including the mean difference (MD) and the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curve, while inconsistency analysis, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analyses, and publication bias were performed for the stability evaluation of outcomes. RESULTS: Screening determined that 20 studies involving a total of 249 samples were deemed viable for inclusion in the network meta-analysis. Tip point registered the highest micromotions of 13 measurement points. In the horizontal level, the arrangements of 4 measurement points at the proximal (P1–P4), middle (P5–P8) and distal part of the stem (P9–P12) were P1 = P2 = P3 = P4, P7 > P8 > P6 = P5 and P10 ≥ P12 = P9 = P11, respectively. In the vertical level, the arrangements of 3 measurement points at the anterior, posterior, medial, and lateral directions was P9 > P5 = P1, P10 > P6 > P2, P11 > P7 > P3, and P12 > P8 > P4, respectively. CONCLUSION: The network meta-analysis seems to reveal that the distal part of the femoral stem is easier to register higher micromotion, and tip point of femoral stem registers the highest micromotions.