Prophylactic fixation of the unaffected contralateral side in children with slipped capital femoral epiphysis seems favorable:A systematic review

BACKGROUND Slipped capital femoral epiphysis(SCFE)occurs in adolescents and has an incidence of around 10 per 100000 children.Children presenting with a unilateral SCFE are 2335 times more likely to develop a contralateral SCFE than the general population.Prognostic factors that have been suggested to increase the risk of contralateral slip include a younger patient,an underlying endocrine disorder,growth hormone use and a higher radiographic posterior sloping angle.However,there is still much debate on the advantages and disadvantages of prophylactic fixation of the unaffected side in an otherwise healthy patient.AIM To investigate the risk rate of contralateral SCFE and assess the(dis)advantages of prophylactic fixation of the contralateral hip.METHODS A systematic literature search was performed in the Embase,Medline,Web of Science Core Collection and Cochrane databases.Search terms included‘slipped capital femoral epiphysis,’‘fixation,’‘contralateral,’and derivatives.The eligibility of the acquired articles was independently assessed by the authors and additional relevant articles were included through cross-referencing.Publications were considered eligible for inclusion if they presented data about otherwise healthy children with primarily unilateral SCFE and the outcomes of prophylactically pinning their unaffected side,or about the rates of contralateral slips and complications thereof.The study quality of the included articles was assessed independently by the authors by means of the methodological index for non-randomized studies criteria.RESULTS Of 293 identified unique publications,we included 26 studies with a total of 12897 patients.1762 patients(14%)developed a subsequent symptomatic contralateral slip.In addition,38%of patients developed a subsequent slip on the contralateral side without experiencing clinical symptoms.The most outspoken advantage of prophylactic fixation of the contralateral hip in the literature is prevention of an(asymptomatic)slip,thus reducing the increased risk of avascular necrosis(AVN),cam morphology and osteoarthritis.Disadvantages include an increased risk of infection,AVN,peri-implant fractures,loss of fixation as well as migration of hardware and morphologic changes as a consequence of growth guidance.These risks,however,appeared to only occur incidentally and were usually mild compared to the risks involved with an actual SCFE.CONCLUSION The advantages of prophylactic pinning of the unaffected side in otherwise healthy patients with unilateral SCFE seem to outweigh the disadvantages.The final decision for treatment remains to be patient-tailored.

Comparing complications of outpatient management of slipped capital femoral epiphysis and Blount’s disease:A database study

BACKGROUND Currents trends in pediatric orthopaedics has seen an increase in surgeries being successfully completed in an outpatient setting.Two recent examples include slipped capital femoral epiphysis(SCFE)and Blount’s disease.Surgical indications are well-studied for each pathology,but to our knowledge,there is an absence in literature analyzing safety and efficacy of inpatient vs outpatient management of either condition.We believed there would be no increase in adverse outcomes associated with outpatient treatment of either conditions.AIM To investigate whether outpatient surgery for SCFE and Blount’s disease is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes.METHODS The 2015-2017 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric Registries were used to compare patient characteristics,rates of complications,and readmissions between outpatient and inpatient surgery for SCFE and Blount’s disease.RESULTS Total 1788 SCFE database entries were included,30%were performed in an outpatient setting.In situ pinning was used in 98.5%of outpatient surgeries and 87.8%of inpatient surgeries(P<0.0001).Inpatients had a greater percent of total complications than outpatients 2.57%and 1.65%respectively.Regarding Blount’s disease,outpatient surgeries constituted 41.2%of the 189 procedures included in our study.The majority of inpatients were treated with a tibial osteotomy,while the majority of outpatients had a physeal arrest(P<0.0001).Complications were encountered in 7.4%of patients,with superficial surgical site infections and wound dehiscence being the most common.1.6%of patients had a readmission.No differences in complication and readmission risks were found between inpatients and outpatients.CONCLUSION The current trend is shifting towards earlier discharges and performing procedures in an outpatient setting.This can be safely performed for a large portion of children with SCFE and Blount’s disease without increasing the risk of complications or readmissions.Osteotomies are more commonly performed in an inpatient setting where monitoring is available.