2. Subgroup comparisons and sensitivity analyses.

Subgroup comparisons
	Trials	Number of trials (participants)	Risk ratio (95% confidence interval)	P value
	All	20 (1419)	0.53 (0.38 to 0.72)	‐
Treatment duration	> 7 days	8 (640)	0.50 (0.29 to 0.87)	P = 0.74
	< 7 days	12 (779)	0.56 (0.40 to 0.78)
Aetiology	Alcoholic	8 (341)	0.46 (0.29 to 0.74)	P = 0.56
	Mixed	12 (1078)	0.56 (0.38 to 0.82)
Intervention	Only granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor	14 (1075)	0.55 (0.38 to 0.81)	P = 0.53
	Staminal cells infusion	2 (113)	1.43 (0.12 to 17.23)
	Other	4 (205)	0.50 (0.29 to 0.86)
Geographic location* (continent)	Asia	15 (1036)	0.47 (0.38 to 0.59)	P < 0.00001
	Europe	4 (349)	1.43 (1.11 to 1.84)
Risk of bias	Low	2 (75)	0.46 (0.28 to 0.76)	P = 0.52
	High	18 (1344)	0.56 (0.40 to 0.78)
Follow‐up length	Short (≤ 3 months)	13 (595)	0.56 (0.40 to 0.77)	P = 0.76
	Long (> 3 months)	7 (824)	0.50 (0.27 to 0.)
Acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF)	ACLF	12 (693)	0.59 (0.40 to 0.87)	P = 0.28
	No ACLF	8 (726)	0.45 (0.33 to 0.61)
Sensitivity analyses
	Only trials at low risk of bias	2 (75)	0.46 (0.28 to 0.76)	‐
	Only full text	17 (1290)	0.50 (0.35 to 0.72)	‐
	Meta‐analysis model: fixed‐effect	20 (1419)	0.62 (0.54 to 0.71)	‐
	Missing data: "best‐worst case scenario"	20 (14019)	0.49 (0.36 to 0.65)	‐
	Missing data: "worst‐best case scenario"	20 (1419)	0.61 (0.45 to 0.84)	‐

*this subgroup comparison was planned posthoc at the review stage.