Table 1.
Characteristics of the included meta-analysis
| First author | Year | No. of studies | RCT in the meta-analysis | No. of patients | Population | Intervention | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pommergaard [10] | 2014 | 11 | 0 | 110,272 | Colorectal cancer | Age, sex, BMI, low anastomosis, ASA PS classification, preoperative radiotherapy, tumor stage | |
| Qu [11] | 2015 | 14 | 0 | 4,580 | Laparoscopic anterior resection | Age, sex, BMI, previous abdominal surgery, ASA PS classification, albumin, anemia, diabetes, tumor size, TNM stage, preoperative chemotherapy, operative time, level of inferior artery ligation, diverting stoma, intraoperative transfusion, length of first cartridge, diameter of circular stapler, anastomosis level, pelvic drain, rectal tube | |
| Slim [16] | 2004 | 7 | 7 | 1,454 | Elective colorectal surgery | Mechanical bowel preparation | No preparation |
| Slim [17] | 2009 | 14 | 14 | 1,859 | Elective colorectal surgery | Mechanical bowel preparation | No preparation |
| Güenaga [18] | 2011 | 13 | 13 | 4,533 | Elective colorectal surgery | Mechanical bowel preparation | No preparation |
| Rollins [19] | 2018 | 36 | 23 | 21,568 | Elective colorectal surgery | Mechanical bowel preparation | No preparation |
| Rollins [21] | 2019 | 40 | 28 | 69,517 | Elective colorectal surgery | Mechanical bowel preparation + oral antibiotic decontamination | Mechanical bowel preparation |
| Ding [23] | 2013 | 12 | 1 | 1,057 | Right hemicolectomy for colon cancer | Laparoscopic surgery | Open surgery |
| Chaouch [24] | 2019 | 10 | 0 | 2,778 | Right hemicolectomy for colon cancer with complete mesocolon excision | Laparoscopic complete mesocolon excision | Open complete mesocolon excision |
| Gavriilidis [25] | 2018 | 8 | 0 | 947 | Transverse colon cancer | Laparoscopic surgery | Open surgery |
| Simillis [26] | 2019 | 37 | 29 | 6,237 | Rectal cancer | Laparoscopic surgery | Open surgery |
| Si [27] | 2019 | 30 | 6 | 11,014 | Colorectal cancer | High inferior mesenteric artery ligation | Low inferior mesenteric artery ligation |
| Shen [28] | 2018 | 4 | 4 | 1,177 | Colorectal cancer | Indocyanine green | No Indocyanine green |
| Neutzling [30] | 2012 | 9 | 1,233 | Colorectal anastomosis | Stapled anastomosis | Hand-sewn anastomosis | |
| Choy [31] | 2011 | 7 | 7 | 1,125 | Ileocolic anastomosis | Stapled anastomosis | Hand-sewn anastomosis |
| Lustosa [33] | 2002 | 9 | 9 | 1,233 | Colorectal anastomosis | Stapled anastomosis | Hand-sewn anastomosis |
| van Oostendorp [34] | 2017 | 12 | 1 | 1,492 | Right hemicolectomy | Intracorporeal anastomosis | Extracorporeal anastomosis |
| Wu [35] | 2017 | 19 | 1 | 1,957 | Right hemicolectomy | Intracorporeal anastomosis | Extracorporeal anastomosis |
| Wu [40] | 2016 | 12 | 2 | 5,283 | Colorectal surgery | Air leak test | No air leak test |
| Karliczek [42] | 2006 | 6 | 6 | 1,140 | Colorectal surgery | Drain | No drain |
| Rolph [43] | 2004 | 3 | 3 | 908 | Colorectal surgery | Drain | Placebo (blind ended drain) or no drain |
| Rondelli [44] | 2014 | 8 | 3 | 2,277 | Anterior resection | Drain | No drain |
| Hüser [46] | 2008 | 27 | 4 | 15,180 | Low rectal cancer | Diverting stoma | No diverting stoma |
| Montedori [47] | 2010 | 6 | 6 | 648 | Anterior resection | Diverting stoma | No diverting stoma |
| Wu [48] | 2014 | 11 | 3 | 5,612 | Low anterior resection | Diverting stoma | No diverting stoma |
| Gu [49] | 2015 | 13 | 4 | 8,002 | Low anterior resection | Diverting stoma | No diverting stoma |
| Phan [50] | 2019 | 8 | 8 | 892 | Low anterior resection | Diverting stoma | No diverting stoma |
| Gavriilidis [51] | 2019 | 10 | 6 | 1,534 | Colorectal surgery | Loop ileostomy | Loop colostomy |
| Chudner [52] | 2019 | 6 | 2 | 1,063 | Anterior resection | Loop ileostomy | Loop colostomy |
| Wang [54] | 2016 | 4 | 1 | 909 | Anterior resection | Transanal tube | No transanal tube |
| Yang [55] | 2017 | 7 | 2 | 1,772 | Low anterior resection | Transanal tube | No transanal tube |
| Chen [56] | 2018 | 11 | 1 | 2,432 | Anterior resection | Transanal tube | No transanal tube |
RCT, randomized clinical trial; BMI, body mass index; ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists; PS, physical status.