Table 1.

Meta-analysis comparing transthoracic and transhiatal esophagectomy

Meta-analysis	Rindani et al[20]	Hulscher et al[21]
No. of patients	5483	7527
Postoperative mortality (%)
TT	9.5	9.2
TH	6.3	5.7
Intraoperative blood loss (mL)
TT	1171	1001
TH	1311	728
Hospital stay (d)
TT	19.8	21
TH	19.5	17.8
Pulmonary complications (%)
TT	25	18.7
TH	24	12.7
Cardiac complications (%)
TT	10.5	6.6
TH	12.4	19.5
Anastomotic leakage (%)
TT	10	7.2
TH	16	13.6
Vocal cord paralysis (%)
TT	4.8	3.5
TH	11.2	9.5
5-yr OS (%)
TT	26	23
TH	24	21.7

TT: Transthoracic esophagectomy; TH: Transhiatal esophagectomy; OS: Overall survival.