Table 2.
Characteristics of included studies
| Study ID | Journal | Literature search valid through | Published | Number of included studies | Case series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | RCT | Comparative | |||||||
| Total | Prospective | Retrospective | |||||||
| Higgins 2011 | The Laryngoscope | July 2008 | 2011 | 9 (+34) | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 34 |
| Lombardi 2016 | Surgery | August 2014 | June 2016 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Malik 2016 | World J Surg | Unknown | June 2016 | 15 (+2) | 1 | 14 | Unknown | Unknown | 2 |
| Pisanu 2014 | J Surgical Research | August 2013 | 2014 | 20 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| Sanabria 2013 | Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol | December 2012 | May 2013 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zheng 2013 | J Formos Med Assoc | April 2011 | 2013 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Yang 2017 | International J Surgery | July 2016 | 2017 | 23 | 4 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 0 |
| Wong 2017a | International J Surgery | September 2015 | 2017 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
RCT randomized controlled trial
aConducted solely on “high-risk” patients undergoing re-operations or significant pathology