Effect of Capsular Closure on Outcomes of Hip Arthroscopy for Femoracetabular Impingement: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of hip arthroscopy with or without capsular closure in femoracetabular impingement (FAI) by meta‐analysis. METHODS: Pertinent studies were identified by searching Pubmed, EMBASE databases with the last search update on 16 February 2020. Studies that reported hip arthroscopy for FAI were collected. Meta‐analysis was performed by the use of Review Manager 5.3 software. The odds ratios (OR) and mean differences (MD) were used to compare dichotomous and continuous variables. Additionally, the I(2) was used to assess heterogeneity among studies, and the fixed‐effects model or the random‐effects model was selected for the quantitative analysis. Outcomes were evaluated by forest plots. For statistical analysis, P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: There was no significant difference among the preoperative mHHS (MD = –2.66，95% CI [−7.25, 1.92], I(2) = 80%, P = 0.25), preoperative (MD = ‐4.94, 95% CI [−11.56, 1.67], I(2) = 50%, P = 0.14) and postoperative HOS‐SSS (MD = ‐1.00, 95% CI [−6.98, 4.98], I(2) = 66%, P = 0.74), patient satisfaction (MD = 0.03, 95% CI [−0.25, 0.31], I(2) = 19%, P = 0.84; OR = 0.94, 95% CI [0.59, 1.50], I(2) = 0%, P = 0.78), complications (OR = 1.23, 95%CI [0.56, 2.67], I(2) = 0%, P = 0.61), revisions (OR = 1.77, 95% CI [0.87, 3.60], I(2) = 36%, P = 0.11), and surgery time (SMD = –0.38, 95% CI [−1.16, 0.40], I(2) = 92%, P = 0.34) between the capsule closure group and the non‐closure group. For the comparison of postoperative mHHS (MD = –2.66, 95% CI [−7.25, 1.92], I(2) = 80%, P = 0.25) and HOS‐ADL (MD = ‐4.20, 95% CI [−5.75, −2.65], I(2) = 24%, P < 0.00001), the score of the non‐closure group was significantly better than that of the closure group. CONCLUSIONS: Remain capsule unclosed after hip arthroscopy for FAI may, to some extent, has a better postoperative functional score than the non‐closure treatment.