Systematic review on the benefits of CPAP compared to other interventions in the postoperative period in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

Abstract

A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the benefits of CPAP in the immediate postoperative period of patients undergoing bariatric surgery. For this purpose, a search for randomized controlled clinical trials was carried out in the PubMed and Cochrane Plus databases, with the following search terms: continuous positive airway pressure bariatric or CPAP bariatric. A total of 115 results were obtained, finally including in the review two articles available in full text that met al.l the inclusion criteria. Relevant data were extracted from both studies and their quality was assessed. The methodologies of both studies are almost identical, as one of them was intended as an extension of the other to test the idea that longer duration of CPAP would bring greater benefits. The studies measure as the main outcome the level of arterial oxygenation, through the ratio between the arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) and the fraction of inspired oxygen (F1O2), finding that this is higher in patients undergoing CPAP and that a longer duration of treatment generates longer lasting results. The

methodology of both studies is adequate in terms of randomization, treatment assignment, masking and reporting of results of all participants, however, the inclusion criteria and characteristics of the samples differ, and the studies present some limitations such as the absence of analysis by sex or BMI or, in one of them, conclusions presented without the necessary support of numerical results.