Efficacy of chitosan dressing on endoscopic sinus surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Chitosan dressing might be promising to promote the recovery following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). However, the results remain controversial. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the influence of chitosan dressing on ESS. PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of chitosan dressing on endoscopic sinus surgery were included. Two investigators independently searched articles, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies. The primary outcomes were synechia and hemostasis. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effect model. Four RCTs involving 268 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall following ESS, compared with control intervention, chitosan dressing significantly reduced synechia (RR = 0.25; 95% CI 0.13–0.49; P < 0.0001) and promoted hemostasis (RR = 1.70; 95% CI 1.37–2.11; P < 0.00001), but showed no impact on granulations (RR = 1.18; 95% CI 0.72–1.95; P = 0.52), mucosal edema (RR = 0.88; 95% CI 0.60–1.29; P = 0.51), crusting (RR = 0.85; 95% CI 0.48–1.53; P = 0.60), and infection (RR = 0.88; 95% CI 0.51–1.52; P = 0.64). Compared to control intervention, chitosan dressing could significantly decrease edema and improve hemostasis, but had no effect on granulations, mucosal edema, crusting and infection.