Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42205624›Full record

ReviewCureus2026

Comparative Effectiveness of Internal Fixation Versus Hemiarthroplasty and Total Hip Arthroplasty for Displaced Femoral Neck Fractures in Patients Aged ≥65 Years: A Network Meta-Analysis.

Ayman Saad, Safwan Alghwail, Ashraf Muhammad, Faisal W Alqahtani, Faisal G Alanazi, Qasim M Shamtoot, Ali M Juma, Shorooq M Alhousawi, Mohammed B Mousa, Eyad R Sayed and 5 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Ayman SaadDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Aseer Health Cluster, Abha, SAU.
Safwan AlghwailDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Misurata Medical Center, Misurata University, Misurata, LBY.
Ashraf MuhammadDepartment of General Surgery, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health, Al-Baha, SAU.
Faisal W AlqahtaniCollege of Medicine, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, SAU.
Faisal G AlanaziCollege of Medicine, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, SAU.
Qasim M ShamtootDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Ali M JumaDepartment of General Medicine, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Shorooq M AlhousawiCollege of Medicine and Surgery, Taibah University, Madinah, SAU.
Mohammed B MousaFaculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Amman, JOR.
Eyad R SayedDepartment of General Practice, Sulaiman Alrajhi University, Al Qassim, SAU.
Tony El KhouryDepartment of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, LBN.
Mohammed H Abu TairDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Misr University for Science and Technology, Giza, EGY.
Fahad M AlmulhimCollege of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, SAU.
Faisal H AlbalawiCollege of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz for Health Sciences, Jeddah, SAU.
Abdullah A AlghamdiDepartment of Orthopedics, Al-Thaghr General Hospital, Jeddah, SAU.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ideal surgical approach for treating displaced femoral neck fractures (FNFs) in elderly patients is a clinical debate. While internal fixation (IF), hemiarthroplasty (HA), and total hip arthroplasty (THA) represent the established treatment methods, their relative hierarchy regarding safety and efficacy has not been fully established. This study aimed to evaluate and rank these interventions using a network meta-analysis (NMA) framework. MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing IF, HA, and THA in patients aged ≥65 years with acute displaced FNFs. The primary outcomes were reoperation rate and all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included functional scores (Harris Hip Score (HHS)), quality of life, and dislocations. A frequentist, multivariate, random-effects NMA with Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman (HKSJ) adjustment was performed. The required information size (RIS) and evidence conclusiveness were evaluated using trial sequential analysis (TSA). A treatment hierarchy was established using the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curve analysis. Seventeen RCTs (3,223 patients) were included. Arthroplasty significantly reduced the risk of reoperation compared to IF (THA: RR 0.18, 95% CI 0.07-0.44; HA: RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.16-0.76). TSA confirmed that the cumulative evidence for the superiority of THA over IF in reducing reoperation has reached conclusive thresholds. THA achieved the highest functional recovery at 24 months compared to IF (MD 9.73, 95% CI 6.67-12.79), surpassing the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). SUCRA rankings identified THA as the superior intervention for both reoperation prevention (97.2%) and functional efficacy (99.5%). No significant differences were observed in all-cause mortality across the network. Arthroplasty is superior to IF for displaced FNFs in older adults. THA provides the most robust reduction in reoperation risk and superior functional restoration. Although HA remains a viable alternative, IF should be avoided as a primary treatment in this population because of its high failure rate.

Indexed as

elderlyfemoral neck fracturehemiarthroplastyinternal fixationnetwork meta-analysissucratotal hip arthroplastytrial sequential analysis

Identifiers

PMID42205624
PMCPMC13202408

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.