Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| RCTs published from 2005 to 2007 | RCTs published from 2014 to 2016 | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Included studies | 192 | 164 | 356 |
| Annals of surgery | 63 (32.8%) | 80 (48.8%) | 143 (40.2%) |
| British journal of surgery | 79 (41.4%) | 52 (31.7%) | 131 (36.8%) |
| American Journal Of Transplantation | 37 (19.3%) | 23 (14.0%) | 60 (16.9%) |
| The journal of heart and lung transplantation | 12 (6.3%) | 6 (3.7%) | 18 (5.1%) |
| Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry | 1 (0.5%) | 3 (1.8%) | 4 (1.1%) |
| Median number of patients (IQR)a | 106 (68–200) | 130 (80–240) | 120 (72–219) |
| Single-center or multicenter | |||
| Single center | 8 (4.2%) | 20 (12.2%) | 28 (7.9%) |
| Multicenter | 28 (14.6%) | 48 (29.3%) | 76 (21.3%) |
| Unknown | 156 (81.3%) | 96 (58.5%) | 252 (70.8%) |
RCT randomized controlled trial, IQR interquartile range
aA total of 3 RCTs contained no information about sample size (2005–2007, n = 0; 2014–2016, n = 3)