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Introduction Previous evidence has established that early surgery is beneficial to improve outcomes for individuals with native hip fractures in the elderly population. Patients who sustain a periprosthetic fracture have been demonstrated to have similar demographics and outcomes as those with native fractures around the hip and knee. We therefore set out to determine if there is a similar difference in perioperative outcomes between early and delayed surgery for periprosthetic fractures of the hip and knee through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Literature search outputs were screened for studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The groups of early surgery and delayed surgery were defined by study authors. The primary outcome measure was 30 day mortality. Where there was sufficient study homogeneity, a random-effects meta-analysis was performed. Individual study risk of bias was assessed using the ROBINS-I criteria, with the GRADE criteria used for independent outcome evaluation. The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO prior to commencement (Registration number CRD42019149360). Results The inclusion criteria was met in 11 studies (n = 3006). Mean time to surgery from admission for reporting studies was 64 h. 59.6% patients underwent early surgery as defined by the study authors. We identified a significantly lower risk of 30 day mortality for those with early surgery versus delayed surgery (RR 0.21; 95% CI 0.05, 0.90; p = 0.04, n = 2022). There were also significantly better outcomes for early versus delayed surgery regarding: medical complications, length of stay, transfusion risk, and reoperation. The quality of evidence for all the individual outcomes was low or very low. Conclusions There is evidence that delaying surgery in those with periprosthetic fractures of the hip and knee has a deleterious impact on mortality and other important patient outcomes. There are, however, notable limitations to the existing available literature, with further appropriately designed large-scale studies required to confirm these findings.

Weight loss interventions for obesity, such as bariatric surgery, are associated with reductions in bone mineral density and may increase the risk of fractures. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of bariatric surgery and lifestyle weight management programs (WMPs) with fracture outcomes. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1966 to 2018, and our trial registry of WMP randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We included RCTs, non-randomized trials, and observational studies of bariatric surgery, and RCTs of WMPs. Studies had follow-up ≥ 12 months, mean group body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2. The primary outcome measure was incidence of any type of fracture in participants, and the secondary outcome was weight change. We used random effects meta-analysis for trial data. Fifteen studies were included. Three small trials provided short-term evidence of the association between bariatric surgery and participants with any fracture (365 participants; RR 0.82; 95% CI 0.29 to 2.35). Four out of six observational studies of bariatric surgery demonstrated significantly increased fracture risk. Six RCTs of WMPs with 6214 participants, the longest follow-up 11.3 years, showed no clear effect on any type of fracture (RR 1.04; 95% CI 0.91 to 1.18), although authors of the largest RCT reported an increased risk of frailty fracture by their definition (RR 1.40; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.90). Bariatric surgery appears to increase the risk of any fracture; however, longer-term trial data are needed. The effect of lifestyle WMPs on the risk of any fracture is currently unclear.