According to a systematic review and meta-analysis, patients who got systemic corticosteroids exhibited shorter mean hospital stays than those who were given only antibiotics. Tyler R. Schwartz et al. investigated the effects of systemic corticosteroids on the development of abscesses, surgical intervention, and duration of stay in pediatric patients with orbital complications of rhinosinusitis.

Using the MEDLINE and PubMed databases, relevant articles were explored. A total of 477 people from 8 studies that fulfilled inclusion criteria were encompassed. Systemic corticosteroids were administered to 30.2% of patients (n = 144), but not to 69.8% of patients (n = 333).

Meta-assessment of frequency of surgical treatment and subperiosteal abscess illustrated no difference between those who were given and were not given systemic steroids ([OR = 1.06] and [OR = 1.08], respectively). Six publications examined the length of hospitalization. Three of these studies provided sufficient information to conduct a meta-analysis, which revealed that patients with orbital problems who took systemic corticosteroids experienced shorter mean hospital stays than those who did not (SMD = -2.92). Systemic corticosteroids administration was therefore valuable for hospitalized pediatrics suffering from orbital complications of sinusitis. The function of systemic corticosteroids as an adjuvant therapy requires additional investigation.