Abstract: Objective To estimate the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of sinus balloon catheter dilation in the treatment of pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis. Methods PubMed, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Data, CBM, and VIP databases were systematically searched for prospective studies from the date of establishment of the databases to June, 2017, on the therapeutic effects of sinus balloon catheter dilation in the treatment of pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis. Two reviewers independently conducted the literature search, study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment of the included studies. The meta-analysis was conducted using statistical package R. Results A total of 8 prospective studies were included. Feasibility study: 7 prospective studies involving 235 patients(549 sinuses)were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that sinus balloon catheter dilation was successful in 98% of the cases(95%CI［0.95-1.00］). Effectiveness study: 5 prospective studies involving 172 patients were included. The SN-5 score was used to assess postoperative improvement in symptoms. The meta-analysis showed that the procedure improved symptoms in 89% of patients(95%CI［0.84 - 0.93］); and the SN-5 score decreased by 1.87 at follow-up, compared to baseline values(P<0.01). Safety study: Only one study reported a patient who experienced periorbital swelling without hematoma postoperatively; it resolved within one week with no specific treatment. Conclusion Sinus balloon catheter dilation is a safe, feasible, and effective treatment for pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis. Due to the low quality of the included studies, the conclusion should be verified by more strictly-designed, large-scale, and high-quality studies in the future.

Key words: Sinus balloon catheter dilation, Systematic review and meta-analysis, Pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis