Octreotide versus oral dietary modification for the treatment of chylous fistula following neck dissection: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Chylous fistula following neck surgery is a rare, but significant complication. Currently, there is no standardised treatment, which may comprise pressure dressings, oral dietary modification (ODM), surgery or a combination of such measures. Octreotide is a somatostatin analogue that has gained popularity in the management of cervical chyle leaks. The effectiveness of octreotide compared with ODM is unclear. We provide a comprehensive, systematic review of the literature pertaining to the management of chylous fistulae, comparing both treatment strategies.The bibliographic databases MEDLINE, Cochrane, PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar were searched from inception to October 2019. Search terms included (chyle [title/abstract]) OR (chylous [title/abstract]) AND (fistula [title/abstract]) OR (fistulae [title/abstract]) OR (leak [title/abstract]) AND (neck [title/abstract]) OR (dissection [title/abstract]). The study was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Risk of bias was assessed using guidelines from the Joanna Briggs Institute. Outcome measures included the proportion of chylous fistulae that spontaneously resolved without the need for surgery and time taken until resolution, for both DM and octreotide, respectively.The primary search identified 20 articles for review, comprising 313 patients. Two studies were suitable for pooled analysis. There was no statistically significant difference in the time taken for chylous fistula to resolve between groups (octreotide 10.0 days; ODM 12.0 days; P = .38). The overall rate of resolution was 89.6% and 81.5%, respectively (P = .25). Surgery was highly effective in cases failing to resolve following intervention with either method (96% [53/55] patients).The use of octreotide for chylous fistula following neck dissection surgery is associated with a high rate of spontaneous resolution. However, significant heterogeneity, bias and concurrent use of ODM/TPN for patients in studies investigating octreotide precludes universal recommendation at this time. Further research in the form of randomised controlled trials is required to establish an independent treatment effect.