Are short femoral nails superior to the sliding hip screw? A meta-analysis of 24 studies involving 3,279 fractures

This meta-analysis identified 24 randomized trials that compared the use of intramedullary nails (IMN) to the sliding hip screw (SHS) in the treatment of stable and unstable extracapsular proximal femoral fractures. A total of 3,202 patients (3,279 fractures) were identified from the included studies. Results from this analysis indicated that intramedullary nails lead to increased fixation failure and rate of re-operation compared to the sliding hip screws in all fracture types.