Purpose
To analyze the incidence of spin in the abstracts of systematic reviews and meta-analyses investigating anterolateral ligament augmentation or lateral extra-articular tenodesis as treatment for anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
Method
Studies were identified using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analysis guidelines searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus in November 2023. The abstracts were graded for the incidence of the 15 most common types of spin, and full texts were reviewed for AMSTAR 2 classification. General demographics were identified, including study title, author, journal of publication, year of publication, level of evidence, study design, and funding. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare study metrics.
Results
Twenty-two studies met final inclusion criteria. Thirteen studies were related to LET, and 12 were related to ALL with three relevant to both. At least 4 forms of spin were observed in the studies with a maximum of 11 observed. Spin type 9 (“Conclusion claims the beneficial effect of the experimental treatment despite reporting bias.”) was the overall most reported across all studies with 21 out of 22 studies reporting it. There was a significant correlation between the incidence of spin type 10 (“Authors hide or do not present any conflict of interest.”) with lower Level of Evidence (P = .002). There is also a significant association with spin type 3 (“Selective reporting of or overemphasis on efficacy outcomes or analysis favoring the beneficial effect of the experimental intervention.”) with the “very low” category of AMSTAR 2 confidence (p = 0.034).
Conclusions
Spin is highly prevalent in abstracts of systematic reviews and meta-analyses investigating anterolateral ligament augmentation and lateral extra-articular tenodesis reconstruction.
Level of Evidence
Level IV, systematic review of Level III-IV studies.