Role of steroids in reducing postoperative edema in rhinoplasty: a meta-analytic study

The study aimed at verifying the use of steroids to decrease postoperative edema after rhinoplasty. The study included published articles yielded by the Medline database search concerning role of steroids in rhinoplasty. The search was limited to articles published in English in the last three decades. The search was done on 1/2/2012. For the 15 relevant articles, we applied our inclusion and exclusion criteria and only four articles were included. The data collected from each article were statistically analyzed utilizing meta-analytic Review manager (RevMan 5.1) software (Version: 5.1.0.0). Perioperative steroid use significantly reduces postoperative edema of the upper and lower eyelids on the first and third days postoperative, with no significant effect after third day. The results indicated that steroids should be given for patients undergoing rhinoplasty for decreasing periorbital edema postoperatively especially in the first 3 days, however, it has little effect after the third day.