Comparison of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and core decompression in treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head: a meta-analysis

The study aims to compare the clinical efficacy of core decompression (CD) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSC) on the patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). A detailed literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE, Springer, Elsevier Science Direct, Cochrane Library and Google scholar for all relevant papers published was performed. Pooled odds ratio (OR) or weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the clinical efficacy of CD and BMMSC with the clinical outcome on the patients with ONFH. A total of 219 hips in 4 studies were indentified in this current meta-analysis. The OR of 2 separate studies consisting of 115 hips (CD group 63 hips; BMMSC group 52 hips) of patients were pooled and suggested BMMSC group had significantly less number of progressed vascularized bone grafting events than CD group (OR = 0.11; 95% CI: 0.03 similar to 0.43; P < 0.01). In addition, WMD of other 2 separate studies consisting of 104 hips (CD group 52 hips; BMMSC group 52 hips) in patients were pooled, and significant differences (P < 0.01) in Harris Hip Score (HHS) were observed between these two treatment groups at the end of follow-up study, BMMSC group had significantly better clinical outcome than CD group (WMD = 8.69; 95% CI: 3.76 similar to 13.62; P < 0.01). BMMSC may perform a better therapeutic effect than CD on the patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head.