Medical Sciences
Femoral Head–Preserving Porous Tantalum Implantation for Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Conversion to Total Hip Arthroplasty, Radiographic Progression, and Modes of Failure
By Tomasz Poboży and Wojciech Konarski.
Abstract
Background
Porous tantalum implantation is a head-preserving alternative to core decompression in osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Reporting has declined in North America and Europe while continuing elsewhere; outcomes are discordant. Prior syntheses are dated and treated the two endpoints as interchangeable.
Methods
MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched to September 2025. Eligible studies reported head-preserving implantation in ≥5 hips followed ≥12 months, retrieval analyses excepted. The two endpoints were co-primary and pooled separately by random-effects Freeman–Tukey models with Hartung–Knapp adjustment.