Pain relief differentiated according to the length of time that preoperative skin traction was carried out for hip fractures: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Aim: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis pertaining to pain relief differentiated by time within 24 h of preoperative skin traction for hip fracture.

Method: PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and MEDLINE were searched for relevant articles published in the English language on comparison of pain relief between preoperative skin traction and no traction for hip fracture.

Results: Five studies involving 413 patients with hip fractures (skin traction, n = 207; no traction, n = 206) were included. The visual analog scale (VAS) score within 1 h postadmission in the skin traction group was significantly smaller than that in the no traction group. In contrast, there was no significant difference in the VAS scores of the two groups at 4-6 h postadmission.

Conclusions: Evidence indicates that preoperative skin traction for hip fracture can provide pain relief within 1 h postadmission, but not at 4-6, 12, and 24 h postadmission. Accordingly, alternative preoperative pain relief methods for hip fractures should be carefully considered.

Keywords: Hip fractures; No traction; Pain; Skin traction; Time.