Role of Preoperative Embolization in Surgical Management of Carotid Body Tumors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of preoperative embolization on carotid body tumor resection. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were screened for studies published between 2010 and 2022. Primary outcomes investigated were intraoperative blood loss, operative time, length of hospital stay, and perioperative complications such as transient ischemic attack (TIA)/stroke, vascular injury, and cranial nerve injury (CNI). A random effects model was used in cases where study heterogeneity was high. Overall, 25 studies were included in the systematic review, involving 1649 patients: 23 studies were eligible for meta-analysis. The incidence of vascular injury was significantly less in the preoperative embolization group (odds ratio (OR) = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.42–0.84; P =.003). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding intraoperative blood loss, operative time, length of hospital stay, incidence of TIA/stroke, and CNI. Subgroup analyses did not demonstrate significant difference between Shamblin I, II, and III subgroups regarding operative time. This meta-analysis found preoperative embolization to be significantly beneficial in reducing incidence of vascular injury.