Comparison of Surgical Decompression and Steroid Therapy for the Management of Traumatic Optic Neuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Study design: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Treatment of traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) has been a subject of debate for many decades due to the scarcity of evidence-based treatment protocols. This review compares surgical decompression (SD) and steroid therapy (ST) as treatment approaches in TON patients.

Methods: A PRISMA-guided systematic review using PubMed, Embase, Ovid and Scopus databases was performed till the last search date of July 31st 2021. The outcome of interest was an improvement in visual acuity. A meta-analysis of the odds ratio was performed using a random-effect model and sub-group analysis based upon criteria for assessment of improvement in visual acuity.

Results: Sixteen studies (including 1046 patients) were included in the review. The review could identify 590 patients treated with SD and 456 treated with ST. In addition, there was a second cohort of patients presenting with NLP (no light perception). A meta-analysis with a sub-group analysis revealed that there was statistically no significant difference between the two treatment approaches in terms of improvement in VA.

Conclusions: There is no difference in treatment results of SD or ST for TON. Several treatment protocols and different criteria for assessing visual acuity led to difficulty in generating evidence for selecting the correct treatment approach.