Table 1. Basic characteristic of included studies (Part A).
| Author year | Country | Study design | No. of patients | Sampling method | Main sampling sites | Population | No. of biopsy sites | No. of needle passes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | NR | R | NR | ||||||||
| Madan et al., 2016 | India | RCT | 80 | c-TBNA/EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients suspected for sarcoidosis | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Yarmus et al., 2011 | America | RCT | 68 | c-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients with enlarged hilar/mediastinal lymph nodes | NA | NA | 4.47 | 4.14 | |
| Oki et al., 2013 | Japan | RCT | 108 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients suspected for lung cancer | NA | NA | 2.2±0.9 | 3.1±0.4 | |
| Trisolini et al., 2015 | Italy | RCT | 197 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients with known or Suspected lung cancer | 1.3±0.5 | 1.4±0.5 | 4 | 4 | |
| Trisolini et al., 2011 | Italy | RCT | 168 | c-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients with enlarged hilar/mediastinal lymph nodes | 1 | 2 | NA | NA | |
| Murakami et al., 2013 | Japan | RCS | 98 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients with diagnosed small cell lung cancer | 1.1 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 4.0 | |
| Li et al., 2014 | China | RCS | 69 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients with diagnosed lung cancer | NA | NA | 2.4±0.2 | 4.6±0.4 | |
| Chin et al., 2002 | America | PCS | 79 | c-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent c-TBNA | NA | NA | 6.2±2.5 | 4.5±1.7 | |
| Bruno et al., 2013 | Italy | RCS | 120 | c-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients suspected of lung cancer | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Gianella et al., 2018 | Switzerland | PCS | 348 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent EBUS-TBNA | 1.6±0.8 | 1.7±0.8 | NA | NA | |
| Cardoso et al., 2015 | Portugal | PCS | 81 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent EBUS-TBNA | NA | NA | 3.4±1.7 | 4.5±1.7 | |
| Mondoni et al., 2013 | Italy | RCS | 125 | c-EBNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Patients with suspected central lung cancer | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Baram et al., 2005 | America | PCS | 42 | c-TBNA/EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent TBNA | 1.4 | 1.8 | 2.8±1.0 | 3.2±1.2 | |
| Chen et al., 2015 | China | RCS | 815 | r-EBUS+TBB/brushing | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Patients with peripheral pulmonary lesions | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Diette et al., 2000 | America | PCS | 204 | FOB | NA | Unselected patients underwent FOB | NA | NA | 5.2 | 4.4 | |
| Austin et al., 1993 | America | PCS | 55 | CT-guided FNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Patients with diagnosed lung cancer | NA | NA | 1.7±0.9 | 1.3±0.5 | |
| Santambrogio et al., 1997 | Italy | RCT | 220 | CT-guided FNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Patients with indeterminate solid pulmonary lesions | 1.2±0.5 | 1.1±0.3 | NA | NA | |
| Saleh et al., 1996 | America | RCS | 159 | CT-guided FNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Küçük et al., 2004 | Turkey | RCT | 96 | CT-guided FNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Patients with diagnosed lung cancer | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Davenport et al., 1990 | America | RCS | 161 | c-TBNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Unselected patients underwent TBNA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Collins et al., 2012 | America | RCS | 680 | EBUS-FNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent EBUS-FNA | 1.394 | 2.085 | NA | NA | |
| Griffin et al., 2010 | America | RCS | 149 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent EBUS-TBNA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Guo et al., 2015 | China | RCS | 236 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients with known or suspected lung cancer | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | |
| Xiang et al., 2018 | China | RCS | 141 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Patients with suspected lung cancer | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Chaiyakul et al., 2018 | Thailand | PCS | 175 | EBUS-TBNA | Pulmonary nodules/masses | Patients with central intrapulmonary lesions | NA | NA | 3.4±0.66 | 6.07±1.34 | |
| Wong et al., 2014 | America | RCS | 178 | EBUS-TBNA | Lymph nodes | Unselected patients underwent EBUS-TBNA | 1.5±0.7 | 1.9±0.8 | 2.5±0.9 | 2.5±1.0 | |
| Kern et al., 2012 | Slovenia | PCS | 385 | Not restricted | Equivalent | Unselected patients underwent TBNA/FNA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
RCT, random controlled trial; RCS, retrospective cohort study; PCS, prospective cohort study; c-TBNA, conventional transbronchial needle aspiration; EBUS, endobronchial ultrasound; c-EBNA, conventional endobronchial needle aspiration; r-EBUS, radial probe endobronchial ultrasound; TBB, transbronchial biopsy; FOB, fiberoptic bronchoscopy; ROSE, rapid on-site evaluation; NR, without rapid on-site evaluation; NA, not available.