Table 4. Results of the sensitivity analysis for continuous outcomes.
| Outcomes | Group or Subgroup | Set of data | N patients, RC/LC | Analysis model / Effect measure | I 2 | Summary Statistics | 95% CI | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operative time | Sensitivity analysis 1 | 9 | 329/597 | RE/MD | 87% | 46.65 | 27.36 to 65.94 | <0.00001 |
| Sensitivity analysis 3 | 10 | 536/907 | RE/MD | 93% | 47.01 | 28.08 to 65.95 | <0.00001 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 4 | 12 | 549/946 | RE/MD | 93% | 39.50 | 20.29 to 58.71 | <0.0001 | |
| Estimated blood loss | Sensitivity analysis 1 | 7 | 241/414 | FE/ MD | 15% | -18.99 | -25.51 to -12.46 | <0.00001 |
| Sensitivity analysis 3 | 8 | 387/697 | FE/ MD | 0% | -16.15 | -22.66 to -9.63 | <0.00001 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 4 | 10 | 400/736 | FE/MD | 32% | -15.72 | -22.67 to -8.78 | <0.00001 | |
| Time to first flatus | Sensitivity analysis 1 | 4 | 219/363 | RE/MD | 60% | -0.62 | -0.94 to -0.29 | 0.0002 |
| Sensitivity analysis 4 | 4 | 218/358 | RE/MD | 74% | -0.53 | -0.90 to -0.16 | 0.005 | |
| Length of hospital stay | Sensitivity analysis 1 | 8 | 289/462 | FE/ MD | 49% | -1.12 | -1.51 to -0.74 | <0.00001 |
| Sensitivity analysis 2 | 13 | 515/840 | RE/ MD | 59% | -0.77 | -1.36 to -0.19 | 0.010 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 3 | 10 | 608/3160 | RE/ MD | 73% | -0.71 | -1.28 to -0.13 | 0.02 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 4 | 12 | 640/3228 | RE/MD | 67% | -0.70 | -1.24 to -0.15 | 0.01 | |
| Number of harvested lymph nodes | Sensitivity analysis 1 | 5 | 241/388 | RE/MD | 63% | 0.14 | -2.75 to 3.03 | 0.92 |
| Sensitivity analysis 3 | 8 | 402/645 | RE/ MD | 60% | -0.21 | -2.23 to 1.82 | 0.84 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 4 | 9 | 399/702 | RE/MD | 65% | -0.95 | -2.92 to 1.02 | 0.34 | |
| Costs | Sensitivity analysis 1 | 3 | 65/62 | FE/MD | 0% | 1.99 | 1.20 to 2.77 | <0.00001 |
| Sensitivity analysis 2 | 4 | 95/153 | FE/MD | 0% | 2.02 | 1.24 to 2.80 | <0.00001 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 3 | 3 | 225/2549 | RE/ MD | 56% | 2.82 | 1.39 to 4.26 | 0.0001 | |
| Sensitivity analysis 4 | 4 | 220/2541 | FE/MD | 0% | 3.29 | 2.06 to 4.53 | <0.00001 |
FE: Fixed Effect; RE: Random Effect; MD: Mean Difference; CI: Confidence interval
1: Sensitivity analysis excluding data sets with mean or SD values estimated
2: Sensitivity analysis excluding the National database study by Tyler et al.
3: Sensitivity analysis excluding the studies without at least 20 patients for each treatment arms
4: Sensitivity analysis excluding the randomized clinical trial by Park et al.