Published online Nov 15, 2019. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v11.i11.1081
Peer-review started: February 26, 2019
First decision: April 16, 2019
Revised: May 13, 2019
Accepted: August 18, 2019
Article in press: August 19, 2019
Published online: November 15, 2019
Processing time: 264 Days and 23.1 Hours
The first line treatment regimen for esophageal cancer is still surgical resection and the choice of surgical scheme depends on surgeon. Now the efficacy comparison of hybrid minimally invasive esophagectomy (HMIE) and open esophagectomy (OE) is still controversial.
To compare the perioperative and postoperative outcomes of HMIE and OE in patients with esophageal cancer.
PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for related articles. The odds ratio (OR) or standard mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of HMIE and OE.
Seventeen studies including a total of 2397 patients were selected. HMIE was significantly associated with less blood loss (SMD = -0.43, 95%CI: -0.66, -0.20; P = 0.0002) and lower incidence of pulmonary complications (OR = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.57, 0.90; P = 0.004). No significant differences were seen in the lymph node yield (SMD = 0.11, 95%CI: -0.08, 0.30; P = 0.26), operation time (SMD = 0.24, 95%CI: -0.14, 0.61; P = 0.22), total complications rate (OR = 0.68, 95%CI: 0.46, 0.99; P = 0.05), cardiac complication rate (OR = 0.91, 95%CI: 0.62, 1.34; P = 0.64), anastomotic leak rate (OR = 0.95, 95%CI: 0.67, 1.35; P = 0.78), duration of intensive care unit stay (SMD = -0.01, 95%CI: -0.21, 0.19; P = 0.93), duration of hospital stay (SMD = -0.13, 95%CI: -0.28, 0.01; P = 0.08), and total mortality rates (OR = 0.70, 95%CI: 0.47, 1.06; P = 0.09) between the two treatment groups.
Compared with the OE, HMIE shows less blood loss and pulmonary complications. However, further studies are necessary to evaluate the long-term oncologic outcomes of HMIE.
Core tip: In this meta-analysis, hybrid minimally invasive esophagectomy (HMIE) was found to be associated with less blood loss and lower incidence of pulmonary complications compared to conventional open esophagectomy (OE). In the subgroup analysis, patients with HMIE using laparoscopic gastric mobilization-thoracotomy presented less blood loss, shorter hospital stay, lower incidence of total and pulmonary complications than those with OE. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in mortality. In conclusion, our study is the first meta-analysis confirming the priority of HMIE to OE.