Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the placement of dental implants in irradiated patients: systematic review and meta-analysis.

This study was a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on the survival of dental implants placed in patients who had had radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck. A systematic literature search was conducted using the PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Embase and the Cochrane Library, between January 1985 and July 2018. The study observed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis) declaration and norms, and the systematic review was duly recorded in the PROSPERO (International prospective register of systematic reviews) database. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, and all articles were selected on the basis of PICO questions. The process of eligibility and quality evaluation yielded three studies for statistical analysis. Based on the survival rates, there was no evidence that the risk of an implant failing was different between the patients who received HBOT and those who did not. Moreover, the risk of an implant failing did not depend on the anatomical site. HBOT exerted no beneficial influence on the survival rates of implants placed in irradiated patients, and the risk of an implant failing did not depend on its location.