The efficacy of cryogenic plasma tonsillectomy in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children: A meta-analysis.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) refers to the apnea and hypopnea caused by partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway collapse during sleep. The cryogenic plasma tonsillectomy is mostly used for the clinical treatment of children with OSAHS. The objective of this meta-analysis is to investigate the clinical efficacy of cryogenic plasma tonsillectomy for OSAHS in children. The literature search was conducted through China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. The search was from the establishment of each database to June 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) meeting the criteria for partial/total cryo-plasma tonsillectomy for treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children were included, with data extracted. The meta-analysis was performed using the Stata 16.0 and Review Manager 5.4. Seven RCTs were included in this study. The results showed that the partial/complete cryo-plasma tonsillectomy in the experimental group had a better therapeutical effective rate than the control group of patients treated with conventional surgery [Odds ratio (OR) = 2.181, 95% CI: 1.306-3.645, P < 0.05]. Also, in terms of postoperative adverse reactions, the number of adverse reactions in the experimental group was significantly lower than in the control group (OR = 0.445, 95% CI: 0.287-0.689, P = 0.001). The analysis of surgical efficacy showed that the operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative pain score were all significantly lower than those of the control group. Furthermore, further analysis of the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the lowest oxygen saturation (LSaO2) of the two groups showed that the cryo-plasma tonsillectomy treatment had higher LSaO2 levels than conventional treatment [Standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.380, 95% CI: 0.094-0.667, P = 0.009]. The application of cryo-plasma tonsillectomy can significantly improve the treatment effect of OSAHS, reducing adverse reactions.