Table 2.

Summary of findings table for primary outcomes (infection and non-union) with relative and anticipated absolute effects, GRADE quality of evidence assessment and evidence interpretation.

Outcome	No of Participants (Studies)	Relative Effect (95% CI)	p-Value	Anticipated Absolute Effects (95% CI)			Certainty (GRADE)	Interpretation
				Early Debridement	Late Debridement	Difference
Infection	2193 (17)	OR 0.87 (0.68 to 1.11)	0.23	14.0%	12.4% (10 to 15.3)	1.6% fewer (4 fewer to 1.3 more)	⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW a,b,c	The evidence suggests that late debridement results in little to no difference in infection.
Non-union	817 (7)	OR 0.70 (0.42 to 1.15)	0.13	16.8%	12.4% (7.8 to 18.8)	4.4% fewer (9 fewer to 2 more)	⨁◯◯◯ VERY LOW a,c,d	The evidence suggests that late debridement results in little to no difference in non-union.

The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio. Low certainty: Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. Explanations: ^a Serious risk of bias assessment as most studies were judged to carry serious bias (n = 13), while the rest 7 stuies moderate. ^b Serious indirectness as most studies did not define how debridement was carried out. Method of assessing infetion varied and was not standardised. ^c Serious imprecision as although size sample is large, the 95% CI overlaps with no effect (OR = 0). ^d Serious indirectness as most studies did not define how debridement was carried out. Method of confirming non-union varied and was not standardised.