Surgical versus conservative management of congenital pulmonary airway malformation in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundThe ideal management of infants born with asymptomatic congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) is controversial. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing elective resection versus expectant management.MethodsWe searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PubMed for studies describing the management of asymptomatic CPAM and reporting on postoperative morbidity, mortality, and length of hospital stay (LOS). We performed meta-analyses when possible and provide a narrative summary of results.ResultsOne nonrandomized prospective and eight retrospective studies met our inclusion criteria. Out of 168 patients, 70 underwent surgery before symptoms developed with seven experiencing postoperative complications (10.0%); 63 developed symptoms while being managed expectantly and subsequently underwent surgery with 20 complications (31.8%). Thirty-five patients continued to be followed nonsurgically (three months to nine years of follow-up). Morbidity was higher with surgery after symptom development (6 studies; odds ratio 4.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40 to 15.11, P < 0.01); there was no difference in LOS (3 studies; mean difference 4.96, 95% CI − 1.75 to 11.67, P = 0.15). There were no related deaths.ConclusionsElective resection of asymptomatic CPAM lesions is safe and prevents the risk of symptom development, which may result in a more complicated surgery and recovery.