Published online Jun 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i22.2819
Peer-review started: March 1, 2019
First decision: April 11, 2019
Revised: April 26, 2019
Accepted: May 8, 2019
Article in press: May 8, 2019
Published online: June 14, 2019
Processing time: 106 Days and 21.7 Hours
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common cause of cancer-related deaths, especially in cases with liver metastases. Simultaneous surgical resection of primary colorectal tumors and synchronous colorectal liver metastases (SCRLM) is an effective strategy to improve the overall survival rate. Application of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is increasing, but the true benefits of MIS remain unclear.
We hope to offer guidance on the clinical care of MIS in CRC and SCRLM.
To help identify which optimal surgery method is suitable for patients with CRC and SCRLM.
A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for studies concerning minimally invasive and open surgery (OS) for the simultaneous resection of CRC and SCRLM. We followed the PRISMA agreement. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager Software, and the quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.
Two hundred and sixteen patients in the mini-invasive group and 286 patients in the open group were included in this study. Intraoperative blood loss (P = 0.002) and blood transfusion (P = 0.03) were less, the recovery of intestinal function (P = 0.01) and diet (P < 0.0001) was faster, the length of postoperative hospital stay (P < 0.0001) was shorter, and the number of surgical complications was lower (P = 0.04) in the MIS group. However, the operation time, rates and severity of overall morbidity, as well as the rates of general morbidity showed no significant difference between the minimally invasive and OS groups. Moreover, the overall survival and disease-free survival after MIS were similar to those after OS.
The current meta-analysis showed that MIS is an optimal strategy for the simultaneous resection of CRC and SCRLM.
The results of the current meta-analysis may help researchers to develop guidelines about surgical methods in CRC and SCRLM more perfectly.