Table 1.
Exclusion list of the manuscripts
| No. | Author | Ref. | Cause of exclusion |
| 1 | Sasaki J | J Nippon Med Sch 2012; 79:259-66 | Different outcome measure |
| 2 | Turagava J | N Z Med J 2012; 125: 17-26 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 3 | Poulsen M | J Gastrointest Surg 2012; 16: 1554-1558 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 4 | Roscio F | Int J Surg 2012; 10: 290-295 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 5 | Wang G | Hepatogastroenterology 2012; 59: 2158-2163 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 6 | Rottoli M | Surg Endosc 2012; 26: 1971-1976 | Different outcome measure |
| 7 | Campos FG | Surg Laparosc Endosc Percutan Tech 2011; 21: 327-333 | Exclusively familial polyposis patients |
| 8 | Panait L | Chirurgia (Bocur) 2011; 106: 475-478 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 9 | Hendren S | Dis Colon Rectum 2011; 54: 1362-1367 | Different outcome measure |
| 10 | Issa N | J Gastrointest Surg 2011; 15: 2011-2015 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 11 | McNicol FJ | Colorect Dis 2012; 14: 458-462 | Rectal cancers |
| 12 | Fujii S | Hepatogastroenterology 2011; 58: 406-410 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 13 | Akmal Y | Surg Endosc 2011; 25: 2967-2971 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 14 | Senthil M | Arch Surg 2010; 145: 840-843 | Different outcome measure |
| 15 | Han SA | Int J Colorect Dis 2010; 25: 631-638 | Different outcome measure |
| 16 | Park IJ | J Gastrointest Surg 2009; 13: 960-965 | Emergency resections |
| 17 | Heise CP | Dis Colon Rectum 2008; 51: 1790-1794 | Rectal cancers |
| 18 | Strhölein MA | Dis Colon Rectum 2008; 51: 385-391 | Rectal cancers |
| 19 | Moloo H | Dis Colon Rectum 2008; 51: 173-180 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 20 | Zhang H | Minim Invasiv Ther allied Technol 2007; 16: 187-191 | Rectal cancers |
| 21 | Polle SW | Surg Endosc 2007; 21:1301-1307 | Rectal cancers |
| 22 | Hasegawa H | Surg Endosc 2007; 21: 920-924 | Rectal cancers |
| 23 | Del Rio P | Minerva Chir 2006; 61: 923-927 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 24 | Schlachta CM | Surg Endosc 2007; 21: 396-369 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 25 | Wong DC | Tech Coloproctol 2006; 10: 37-42 | Rectal cancers |
| 26 | Moloo H | Dis Colon Rectum 2006; 49: 213-218 | Only laparoscopy group |
| 27 | Larson DW | Dis Colon Rectum 2005; 48: 1845-1850 | Rectal cancers |
| 28 | Kuhry E | Surg Endosc 2005; 19: 687-692 | Different outcome measure |
| 29 | Adaki Y | Hepatogastroenterology 2003; 50: 1348-1351 | Different outcome measure |
| 30 | Dunker MS | Dis Colon Rectum 2003; 46: 1238-1244 | Different outcome measure |
| 31 | Pasupathy S | Tech Coloproctol 2001; 5: 19-22 | Rectal cancers |
| 32 | Weeks JC | JAMA 2002; 287: 321-328 | Different outcome measure |
| 33 | Nelson H | Swiss Surg 2001; 7: 248-251 | Different outcome measure |
| 34 | Delgrado S | Dis Colon Rectum 2001; 44: 638-646 | Different outcome measure |
| 35 | Brown SR | Dis Colon Rectum 2001; 44: 397-400 | Rectal cancers |
| 36 | Marcello PW | Dis Colon Rectum 2000; 43: 604-608 | Rectal cancers |
| 37 | Hewitt PM | Dis Colon Rectum 1998; 41: 901-909 | Different outcome measure |
| 38 | Fukushima R | Dis Colon Rectum 1996; 39 (Suppl): S29-34 | Different outcome measure |
| 39 | Bokey EL | Dis Colon Rectum 1996; 39 (Suppl): S29-34 | Only laparoscopy group |