Levels of evidence in the treatment of slipped capital femoral epiphysis: a systematic review

The primary aim of this study was to analyze the current level of evidence available on the surgical management of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE). Secondary aims were to correlate the level of evidence with the impact factor of the journal to evaluate the level of evidence over time, and to evaluate the geographic distribution of the studies. Therapeutic studies published in English between January 1991 and August 2014 that reported on SCFE were identified via electronic search was performed using the databases PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. The search terms used included: Slipped capital femoral epiphyses OR SCFE OR Slipped upper femoral epiphyses OR SUFE AND Management OR Treatment. Correlation between the level of evidence and the impact factor of the journal were analyzed together with linear regression models to reveal any significant trends over time. A total of 1516 studies were found, of which 321 were included in the final analysis. The most frequent study type was the case series (51.1%) followed by case reports (22.4%) and expert opinion (14.0%). Randomized control trial accounted for only 0.6%. The Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics (American) had the most studies (22.6%) and the highest number of level 2 (n =1) and level 3 (n=15) type evidence. There was no progression of level of evidence over time. There was no correlation between level of evidence and impact factor of journal. The majority of therapeutic studies on SCFE are of low level of evidence. High-level RCTs are difficult to perform in pediatric orthopedic surgery, however the management of SCFE would benefit from well-designed, multicenter, clinical RCTs to advance evidence-based practice.