Effect of CO2 laser for the management of primary otosclerosis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: This study will explore the effect and safety of CO2 laser (COL) for the management of patients with primary otosclerosis (PO).

Methods: The following electronic databases will be searched from inception to the present: PUBMED, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, VIP, WANGFANG, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. No language limitation will be applied. All relevant randomized controlled trials using COL to treat patients with PO will be included. Two researchers will identify studies, collect data and evaluate the risk of bias of each included study independently. Any different views between 2 researchers will be resolved by a third researcher via discussion. Data analysis will be carried out using RevMan 5.3 software.

Results: This study will evaluate the effect and safety of COL for the treatment of PO through hearing gain, tinnitus severity, incidence of intraoperative, health-related quality of life, other morbidities, and adverse events.

Conclusion: This study will provide evidence for the effect and safety of COL in patients with PO.

Study Registration Number: INPLASY202040110.