Operative options for extracranial nasal dermoid cysts: A meta-analysis

Nasal dermoid cysts are surgically treated using external incision, open rhinoplasty, transnasal endoscopy, or combined approaches. It is unclear how these approaches differ with regard to the incidence of adverse events.

We conducted a systematic review of studies on the surgical management of midline nasal dermoids. Following data abstraction, we carried out a series of single-arm meta-analyses to estimate summary risks of recurrence and combined adverse events (recurrence, revision, infection, or readmission) according to the surgical approach.

Forty-three eligible studies published between 1958 and 2020 reported on 439 cases of nasal dermoid cysts. Treatment approaches included external incision (25 studies), rhinoplasty (15 studies), and transnasal endoscopy (5 studies). To our knowledge, no study has compared outcome incidence between the surgical approaches. External incision had the lowest summary incidence of both recurrence (1.78% [95% CI: 0.57%, 3.65%]) and combined adverse events (4.94% [95% CI: 2.72%, 7.77%]). Rhinoplasty had a higher incidence of recurrence (4.81% [95% CI: 0.91%, 11.6%]) and combined adverse events (8.32% [95% CI: 2.77%, 16.5%]), and transnasal endoscopy had the highest incidence of recurrence (the only reported adverse event; 7.89% [95% CI: 0%, 28.9%]).

Our results suggest that the incidence of adverse events was lowest among patients who were subjected to external incision for nasal dermoid removal. Incidence was higher for patients who underwent rhinoplasty and the highest for patients who underwent transnasal endoscopy. Future work on this topic should include well-designed prospective studies that compare rates of adverse events and cosmetic outcomes between surgical approaches.