Table 2. Main characteristics of all studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Author, year | No. of patients (U/T) | Age (year) |
Gender |
Affected side |
Diagnosed and method | Pleurodesis | Follow-up (months) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U/T | P value | U:T (M/F) | P value | U:T (R/L) | P value | U/T | P value | |||||||
| Byun, 2013 | 12/12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Chest X-ray and CT | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Chen, 2012 | 36/26 | 29.1/24.5 | 0.144 | (27/9):(22/4) | 0.359 | (22/14):(13/13) | 0.384 | N/A | Mechanical | 16.3/30.5 | <0.001 | |||
| Chen, 2011 | 10/20 | 20.50±5.54/29.32±12.5 | 0.246 | (9/1):(19/1) | 0.605 | (3/17):(6/14) | 1 | Chest X-ray or CT | Mechanical | N/A | N/A | |||
| Huang, 2014 | 99/101 | 27.11±10.23/29.32±12.5 | >0.05 | (91/8):(92/9) | 1 | (55/44):(53/48) | 0.673 | Chest X-ray or CT | Chemical | 6-8 | N/A | |||
| Igai, 2014 | 31/72 | 23.8±6/ 23.4±6.2 | 0.72 | (25/6):(69/3) | 0.012 | (11/20):(53/48) | 0.22 | Chest X-ray and CT | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Jutley, 2005 | 16/19 | 28.9±15.4/32.1±10 | 0.46 | (16/0):(14/5) | 0.049 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 9.4/32.1 | N/A | |||
| Kang, 2012 | 11/16 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.7±7.42 | N/A | |||
| Kang, 2013 | 22/18 | 21.6/19.8 | 0.421 | (19/3):(17/1) | 0.397 | (11/11):(6/12) | 0.289 | Chest X-ray | Sponge sticks or gauze peanuts | 13.8/17.8 | 0.279 | |||
| Kang, 2014 | 33/19 | 18/19 | 0.888 | (27/6):(18/1) | 0.189 | (15/17):(6/13) | 0.326 | Chest CT | Sponge sticks or gauze peanuts | 14.0/15.0 | 0.124 | |||
| Li, 2014 | 9/16 | 19.6/21 | N/A | (7/2):(14/2) | 0.602 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Mechanical | N/A | N/A | |||
| Liang, 2013 | 23/27 | 21.6/23.5 | >0.05 | (18/5):(20/7) | 1 | (13/10):(12/15) | 0.571 | Chest HRCT | Mechanical | 6-24 | N/A | |||
| Mao, 2014 | 21/22 | 23.1±3.7/22.7±2.9 | >0.05 | (19/2):(16/6) | 0.24 | (8/13):(11/11) | 0.543 | Chest X-ray and CT | Mechanical | N/A | N/A | |||
| Ocakcioglu, 2015 | 37/40 | 26.2/27.9 | 0.167 | (32/5):(36/4) | 0.257 | (22/15):(23/17) | 0.243 | Chest X-ray and CT | Mechanical | 21 | N/A | |||
| Salati, 2008 | 28/23 | 24±6.3/26.4±6.4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Chest X-ray and CT | N/A | 13/39 | <0.0001 | |||
| Song, 2015 | 37/23 | 22.0±6.3/22.0±6.3 | 0.36 | (35/2):(23/0) | 0.519 | (16/21):(9/14) | 0.148 | Chest CT | Chemical | 2.9/3.1 | 0.67 | |||
| Tsuboshima, 2015 | 34/35 | 22.9±8.7/25.9±8.8 | >0.05 | (30/4):(30/5) | 1 | (15/19):(12/23) | 0.465 | Chest CT | N/A | 6.7/19.9 | <0.05 | |||
| Yang, 2013 | 27/13 | 22.0±9.1/27.1±12.3 | 0.15 | (20/7):(12/1) | 0.24 | (18/9):(10/3) | 0.72 | Chest CT | Chemical | 3.5/4.6 | 0.13 | |||
No, number; SD, standard deviation; M/F, male/female; R/L, right/left; N/A, the data were not reported.