[Closed suction drainage to prevent postoperative complications after parotidectomy: a systematic review].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of closed suction drainage for prevention of postoperative complications after parotidectomy.

METHODS

Pubmed, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Embase, Open Sigle, CBM, VIP and Wanfang database were searched electronically from the date of their establishment to May 10,2013. Hand-searching covering 19 relevant Chinese journals were also performed, and the literature of randomized controlled trials comparing closed suction drainage and open drainage for prevention of postoperative complications after parotidectomy were included. Risk of bias assessment, which was suggested by Cochrane handbook for systematic reviewers of intervention review, and data extraction of included studies were delivered by two reviewers in duplicate; and meta analysis was performed with Revman 5.2 software.

RESULTS

Ten randomized controlled trials were included. All studies had unclear risk of bias. When compared with open drainage, closed suction drainage showed a significant advantage on reducing postoperative complications (salivary fistula/effusion, edema) after parotidectomy; it also improved clinical comprehensive effect and patients' quality of life (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

To a certain extent, closed suction drainage has better efficacy and safety than controls in preventing postoperative complications after parotidectomy. However, as the quality of some included studies is limited, more randomized controlled trials are needed to reinforce the conclusion.