Table 1.

Characteristics and quality of studies included in the meta-analysis

Publication	Study design	Cases (L/O)	Type of gastrectomy	Type of laparoscopy	Mean follow-up (mo)	Matching criteria1	Quality score
Shinohara et al[32]	Non-RCT	186/123	DG, TG, PG	TLG	48.8	1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9	8
Kim et al[31]	Non-RCT	88/88	DG, TG, PG	LAG	L: 53.7; O: 58.1	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7	8
Wang et al[30]	Non-RCT	210/180	DG, TG, PG	LAG	L: median 24; O: median 26	1, 2, 3, 4, 5	7
Sato et al[29]	Non-RCT	32/118	DG, TG, PG	LAG	43	1	7
Hamabe et al[28]	Non-RCT	66/101	DG, TG	LAG	L: 30.4; O: 53.5	1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9	6
Chen et al[27]	Non-RCT	224/112	DG, TG	LAG	NS	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8	7
Zang et al[26]	Non-RCT	156/156	TG	LAG	NS	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8	6
Shuang et al[25]	Non-RCT	35/35	DG	LAG	L: 36.5; O: 38.5	5, 8	6
Scatizzi et al[24]	Non-RCT	30/30	DG	TLG	18	1, 2, 3, 4, 6	7
Cai et al[23]	RCT	49/47	DG, TG, PG	LAG	22.1	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	RCT
Huang et al[22]	Non-RCT	66/69	DG	LAG	Range: 1-19	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8	7
Du et al[21]	Non-RCT	82/94	TG	LAG	2.5	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7	7
Du et al[20]	Non-RCT	78/90	DG	LAG	25.2	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	7
Hur et al[19]	Non-RCT	26/25	DG	LAG	29.0	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9	7

¹Matching criteria: 1 = age; 2 = sex; 3 = pathologic tumor-node-metastasis stage; 4 = type of gastrectomy; 5 = resection margin; 6 = tumor size; 7 = histologic type; 8 = reconstruction; 9 = adjuvant treatment. DG: Distal gastrectomy; L: Laparoscopic gastrectomy; LAG: Laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy; NS: Not stated; O: Open gastrectomy; PG: Proximal gastrectomy; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; TG: Total gastrectomy; TLG: Total laparoscopic gastrectomy.