Effectiveness and safety of splenectomy for gastric carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Table 1 The characteristics of the included randomized trials

Study	Participants	Interventions	Outcomes
Csendes et al[63], 2002	187 patients with gastric carcinoma entered this study. 97 patients with total gastrectomy and 90 patients with total gastrectomy and splenectomy	Total gastrectomy vs total gastrectomy plus splenectomy. The follow-up was at least 5 years	Five-year overall survival and survival by stage. Postoperative morbidity and mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Duration of operation and hospital stay
Toge et al[6], 1985	The patients underwent total gastrectomy and had the main location of the tumor on lesser curvature region. They were divided into 2 groups at random: 41 in splenectomy (+) and 38 in splenectomy (-) groups	Splenectomy vs splenic preservation. The follow-up was at least 5 years	Kaplan-Meier survival curve. 5-year overall survival were from reported percentages data
Yu et al[64], 2006	A total of 216 patients with proximal gastric cancer were randomized. 103 patients had the spleen preserved and 104 had a splenectomy	Splenectomy vs splenic preservation. Of the 207 patients, 7 were lost to follow-up (follow-up rate 96.6%) and mean duration of follow-up was 5.4 years	Harvested lymph nodes. Postoperative morbidity and mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curve. 5-year overall survival were from reported percentages data