Evaluation of Pulp Vitality Using Pulse Oximetry: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE

The present investigation was intended to compare the accuracy of diagnosis of pulse oximetry (PO) for diagnosis of pulpal pathologies.

METHODS

The present review's protocol has been registered under PROSPERO (530723) and follows the PRISMA-DTA checklist. Relevant databases were searched to ascertain PO's diagnostic capability for evaluating pulp status. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool was used to assess the quality of all the included studies through Review Manager (RevMan ver. 5.3). Using Meta-Disk 1.4 software, a meta-analysis was performed to ascertain the pooled sensitivity and specificity. The additional investigations included summary receiver operating characteristics (SROC) with area under the curve (AUC), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR/+LR), and negative likelihood ratio (NLR/-LR).

RESULTS

Seven studies in all were selected for qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis. All of the examined studies showed a low risk of bias, or ROB. The diagnostic potential of PO was compared with conventional pulp vitality and sensitivity tests, including the electric pulp test (EPT), spray, rubber cups, cold, and heat tests. The meta-analysis revealed a pooled sensitivity of 0.92 (CI 0.35-1.00) and a pooled specificity of 0.08 (CI 0.00-0.63), with a +PLR of 0.95 (0.55-1.65), -NLR of 1.01 (0.22-4.64), and a DOR of 0.94 (0.11-8.48). The total diagnostic accuracy (AUC) was 0.62, indicating that PO can detect the target condition with moderate to good accuracy.

CONCLUSION

When compared to traditional methods, PO is a dependable, superior, and effective diagnostic tool with high diagnostic efficacy for detecting the target condition.

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

Sabharwal RJ, Dhull KS, Dutta B, . Evaluation of Pulp Vitality Using Pulse Oximetry: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2025;18(4):479-486.