SynthesisDisease markers2021
Intraoperative Use of Topical Retropharyngeal Steroids for Dysphagia after Anterior Cervical Fusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Disease markers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- How Common is Dysphagia After Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery, What Drives it, and Can it be Prevented? An Umbrella Review of Systematic Evidence.Global spine journal · 2026Review
- Effects of Topical Steroids on Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Stand-Alone Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion.Cureus · 2026Article
- Investigating the use of peri-operative systemic steroid administration in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) - A systematic review.Journal of orthopaedics · 2025Review
- Effect of perioperative steroids application on dysphagia, fusion rate, and visual analogue scale (VAS) following anterior cervical spine surgery: A meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Frontiers in surgery · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe anterior cervical approach is commonly used clinically for cervical spondylosis, but it also results in frequent postoperative dysphagia, which can increase the risk of complications and poor treatment satisfaction in severe cases. Intraoperative local application of retropharyngeal steroids has an impact on reducing the occurrence and severity of dysphagia; however, the results of current studies vary. The meta-analysis of this randomized trial was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of intraoperative topical retropharyngeal steroids for the control of dysphagia after anterior cervical spine surgery.
methodsTwo authors searched electronic databases such as PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, respectively. The search terms were "Dysphagia," "Steroids," "Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion," etc. A random effects model was used to conduct a meta-analysis based on deviance information criteria.
resultsA total of 8 studies were included in this meta-analysis after screening of 792 studies. Bazaz scores were not significantly different in the steroid group at one day postoperatively (
conclusionPerioperative local retropharyngeal steroid administration as an adjunct to anterior cervical spine surgery reduces the incidence and severity of dysphagia compared with placebo control. However, future high-quality randomized controlled studies could incorporate nonsubjective dysphagia measures and long-term follow-up on the occurrence of associated complications or other side effects.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.