Effectiveness of functional orthopedic appliances as an alternative treatment among children and adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea: Systematic review and meta-analysis

The objective here was to review the efficacy of functional jaw orthopedic appliances for treating children/adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), through correlating the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen saturation (SaO2) in polysomnography (PSG), in addition to questionnaire scores from the obstructive sleep apnea-18 (OSA-18).The PRISMA 2020 guidelines1 were followed. A search was conducted in October 2021, with updating to May 2022, in the MEDLINE/PubMed, BVS (LILACS/BBO), ISI, SciELO (Web of Science), COCHRANE, EMBASE, SCOPUS and WHO databases and the gray literature. Data selection and extraction were performed by two independent reviewers, with Cohen kappa testing. All articles included in the meta-analyses showed good quality and low risk of bias. Statistical analyses were performed in the "R" software, using means with standard deviations, and differences in the means were represented graphically in forest plots. Heterogeneity was tested using I2, in random-effect models.From before to after treatment, treated individuals showed improved AHI, SaO2 and OSA-18 scores2. Comparing treated individuals and controls, AHI decreased in treated individuals and increased in controls. For SaO2, the increase in treated individuals was greater than in controls. For OSA-18, daytime/nighttime symptoms decreased in treated individuals and increased in controls.Functional jaw orthopedic appliances are appropriate and effective for children/adolescents with OSA whose etiology is deficient maxillomandibular growth and development. Functional jaw orthopedics treats the form and function of the stomatognathic system, thereby enhancing quality of life.CRD42021253341.