Efficacy of Posterior Fossa Decompression with Duraplasty for Patients with Chiari Malformation Type I: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: To quantitatively assess and compare the effectiveness and safety of posterior fossa decompression with duraplasty (PFDD) and posterior fossa decompression (PFD) in treating patients with Chiari malformation type I.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched through May 2017. Fourteen cohort studies comprising 3666 patients with Chiari malformation type I were included. Studies were pooled, and the relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

Results: The decrease in syringomyelia was better in patients in the PFDD group than in patients in the PFD group (RR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.07-2.32, P_{heterogeneity} = 0.042, I² = 56.6%). The incidence of cerebrospinal fluid leak (RR = 5.23, 95% CI = 2.61-10.51, P_{heterogeneity} = 0.830, I² = 0%) and aseptic meningitis (RR = 4.02, 95% CI = 1.46-11.03, P_{heterogeneity} = 0.960, I² = 0%) significantly increased among patients in the PFDD group compared with patients in the PFD group. When stratifying by age, a significantly reduced risk in the reoperation rate was observed in the adult group. However, the clinical improvement and the incidence of wound infection were not significantly different between the 2 groups.

Conclusions: This study confirmed that the decrease in syringomyelia was better for patients treated with PFDD than for patients treated with PFD alone. However, no significant difference was found in the clinical improvement and the reoperation rate between the 2 groups.