Should synovectomy be performed during total knee arthroplasty for knee osteoarthritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effect of synovectomy performed during primary total knee arthroplasty for knee osteoarthritis on patients’ postoperative pain and knee function. METHODS: We will search the following electronic databases from inception to June 2021, including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Scientific Journals Database, the Wanfang database, and the Chinese Biomedicine Database. Eligible references will be all randomized controlled trials of initial total knee arthroplasty for primary knee osteoarthritis with or without synovectomy. Two reviewers will independently extract the data. Reviewer Manager 5.3 software will be used for statistical analysis. RESULT: It will provide results on the short- and long-term efficacy and safety of synovectomy in total knee arthroplasty by various comprehensive assessments. CONCLUSION: This study will provide solid evidence on whether and when synovectomy treatment should be performed during total knee arthroplasty.