Conservative Treatment in Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral Head: A Systematic Review

Overview

Journal Med Sci (Basel)

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2024 Jul 25

PMID 39051378

Authors

Evgeniy Nikolaevich Goncharov

Oleg Aleksandrovich Koval

Eduard Nikolaevich Bezuglov

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Vetoshkin

Nikolay Gavriilovich Goncharov

Manuel De Jesus Encarnacion Ramirez

Nicola Montemurro

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head is a pressing orthopedic issue, leading to bone tissue death due to disrupted blood supply and affecting the quality of life of individuals significantly. This review focuses on conservative treatments, evaluating their efficacy as mainstay therapies. Enhanced understanding of AVN's pathophysiology and advancements in diagnostic tools have rekindled interest in non-surgical interventions, emphasizing personalized, multidisciplinary approaches for improved outcomes.

Material And Method: A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar databases from January 2020 to August 2023, with the objective of focusing on conservative treatments for AVN of the femoral head. Eligible studies, including original research, case reports, and observational studies, were examined for relevant, well-documented patient outcomes post-conservative treatments, excluding non-English and surgically focused articles without comparative conservative data.

Results: A systematic search yielded 376 records on AVN of the femoral head across multiple databases. After de-duplication and rigorous screening for relevance and quality, 11 full-text articles were ultimately included for a comprehensive qualitative synthesis, focusing on conservatively managing the condition.

Conclusions: This review evaluates the effectiveness of conservative treatments such as pharmacological interventions and physical modalities in managing AVN of the femoral head. Despite promising results in symptom alleviation and disease progression delay, variability in outcomes and methodological limitations in studies necessitate further rigorous, randomized controlled trials for a robust, patient-centric approach to optimize therapeutic outcomes in AVN management.

Citing Articles

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Healing beyond bone: a qualitative study of the core decompression experience of physically active patients with stage II hip avascular necrosis.

Gokmen M, Gokmen H, Uluoz M, Pazarci O, Ozgozen A, Uluc E J Orthop Surg Res. 2025; 20(1):93.

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