Is soft tissue repair a right choice to avoid early dislocation after THA in posterior approach?

Dislocation is the second most common complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA). The effectiveness of soft tissue repair to reduce dislocation rate is still debated and thus a meta-analysis was conducted.

A systematic search in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases was conducted for this meta-analysis.

clinical comparative trials on the use of soft tissue repair including rotators and capsule repair in primary THA. The main data outcome were the incidences of early hip dislocation after primary THA. HSS score, incidence of other complications was also included in the outcomes.

A total of 4816 cases were included for the analysis from ten studies (3 RCTs/7 Retrospective trials). Overall, the soft tissue repair group showed a significant lower early dislocation rate and higher HSS score compared to the no repair group; but no significant difference was observed between the two groups in regards to the early dislocation rate in RCT studies only. The capsule repair group showed a significant lower early dislocation rate than no capsule repair group while no significant difference was observed between the rotators repair group and no rotators repair group. In all included studies, 4 greater trochanter fractures, 2 sciatic nerve palsies and 1 infection were reported in soft tissue repair group while no cases were observed in the no repair group.

The efficacy of soft tissue repair is positive but still not conclusive to reduce the early dislocation rate after primary THA while soft tissue repair may bring more other complications. Capsule repair seems more effective than rotators repair only.