A systematic review of nonabsorbable, absorbable, and steroid‐impregnated spacers following endoscopic sinus surgery
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Middle meatal (MM) spacers may reduce adhesions following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). However, there is no consensus as to which materials and adjuncts are the most effective for this purpose. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of absorbable spacers (AS) vs nonabsorbable spacers (NAS) in reducing adhesions following ESS for chronic sinusitis. Secondarily, we assessed steroidal vs nonsteroidal MM spacers in reducing adhesions. METHODS: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted and a meta-analysis on relevant outcome data was performed. Electronic search was done using OVID MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science. Independent data extraction and evaluation was conducted. RESULTS: For our primary objective, 6 RCTs were included in the systematic review. A pooled estimate of relevant trials revealed a nonsignificant trend favoring AS in reducing adhesion formation compared to NAS (Relative Risk (RR), 0.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15-1.03). This trend was not apparent if NAS are left for greater than 48 hours after ESS. For our secondary objective, we identified 5 RCTs that compared steroidal vs nonsteroidal spacers. Although a pooled analysis could not be achieved due to inconsistent reporting of MM adhesions, 2 studies demonstrated significantly less adhesions in the steroidal spacer group. CONCLUSION: Comparison between NAS and AS showed that there was no significant difference in adhesion rates if NAS are used for at least 48 hours after surgery. Steroidal spacers may reduce adhesions, but more consistent data reporting is required for meta-analysis.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.012 | 0.045 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.014 | 0.012 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.009 | 0.009 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".