Role of coatings and materials of external fixation pins on the rates of pin tract infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Table 2 Characteristics of seven studies selected and included for analysis

Author	Year	Level of evidence	Number of patient (n)	Coatings	Follow-up	Infection criteria	Infection rate	Conclusion
Masse	2000	2	24	Silver vs Steel	109 d vs 113 d	Mahan et al[22] criteria	30% vs 42.9%	No statistical difference
Moroni	2001	1	20	Hydroxyapatite vs Steel	6 wk	Checketts-Otterburn	0	No statistical difference
Pommer	2002	1	16	Hydroxyapatite vs Titanium	38 wk	Mahan et al[22] criteria	0% vs 13%	Statistically significant
Pizá	2004	1	23	Hydroxyapatite vs Steel	530 d	Checketts-Otterburn	30.4% vs 30.7%	No statistical difference
Coaster	2006	1	19	Silver vs Steel	16,7 wk	Bespoke	30% vs 21%	No statistical difference
Pieske	2010	2	20 vs 20	Steel vs Hydroxyapatite	65 d	Bespoke	5.3% vs 2.6%	No statistical difference
Pieske	2011	2	20 vs 20	Titanium vs Hydroxyapatite	56 d	Bespoke	0% vs 10%	No statistical difference