The Fragility of Statistical Findings Regarding Hemiarthroplasty Versus Total Hip Arthroplasty for Displaced Femoral...

There is debate over the treatment of displaced femoral neck fractures with either hemiarthroplasty or total hip arthroplasty. This study aimed to evaluate the fragility index (FI) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing these methods. We queried for these RCTs containing dichotomous outcomes, finding 11 RCTs with 63 dichotomous outcomes. The median FI for all outcomes was 6, signifying that 6 event reversals would change the statistical significance of an outcome. The median FI was 2 for significant outcomes and 6 for nonsignificant outcomes, indicating that outcomes favoring one surgical method are more statistically fragile than those demonstrating equivalency. [Orthopedics. 2025;48(2):69-73.].