Pure endoscopic surgery (functional endoscopic sinus surgery) has been increasingly replacing external approaches in the management of sinonasal inverted papillomas.

To analyze and compare the effectiveness of pure endoscopic procedure with external or combined procedures to paranasal inverted papillomas, including the experience from two institutions in North Greece, over a 20-year period.

Systematic literature searches of MEDLINE (1952–2016), EMBASE (1974–2016), and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Review of all English-language studies comparing endoscopic and open techniques. Odds ratios (ORs), risk ratio, 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and tests for heterogeneity were reported. Recurrence rates according to initial tumor stage.

In total, 2451 patients had been enrolled in the 23 studies, published between 1992 and 2014. All the included articles are graded as level IV evidence. Among the 1526 patients of the endoscopic group, 212 (13.8%) had recurrence, with the mean time of recurrence to range from 14 to 46.6 months. In the external approach group, 111 (18.7%) of the 592 patients had recurrence, with the time of recurrence to range from 7 to 92 months. The recurrence rate in the combined approach group was 12.9%. The occurrence rate of recurrence attributable to the surgical choice was significantly different between endoscopic and external group (OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.40–0.92; P = 0.02; 14.9% vs. 18.8% in endoscopic and external group, respectively).

The present systematic review and meta-analysis indicates that endoscopic approach seems a favorable treatment option of sinonasal inverted papillomas and confirms the global recommendation that is the gold standard in the treatment of such nose lesions, revealing a lower recurrence rate compared to external approaches.