Table 2. Main outcomes of included studies.
| Author | Groups | Participants | LOS§ | PP on POD 1§ | Pneumothorax | PE | SE | Pneumonia | DIT | RO | Mortality¶ | Readmission¶ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luckraz et al. (19) | NCD | 30 | 1.36 (0.79) | 5.36 (2.72) | 1 | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – |
| CD | 30 | 3 (1.56) | 5.98 (3.7) | 9 | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | |
| Park et al. (32) | NCD | 58 | 3.57 (0.79) | 1.37 (0.78) | 4 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 0 | – |
| CD | 61 | 5.39 (0.97) | 2.53 (0.63) | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | |
| Lesser et al. (33) | NCD | 37 | 1.74 (2) | 1.78 (2.12) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – |
| CD | 37 | 2.93 (4) | 5.47 (1.85) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | |
| Liao et al. (34) | NCD | 50 | 1.2 (0.5) | 0.9 (0.7) | 18 | 4 | 11 | – | 2 | – | – | 0 |
| CD | 50 | 2.6 (0.9) | 1.3 (0.9) | 5 | 3 | 6 | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
| Steunenberg et al. (27) | NCD | 28 | 3.62 (2.24) | – | 3 | 0 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 0 | – |
| CD | 21 | 4.29 (1.59) | – | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | – | |
| Nakashima et al. (28) | NCD | 132 | 4.6 (2.2) | – | 10 | 1 | – | – | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| CD | 201 | 6.7 (4.4) | – | 8 | 1 | – | – | 3 | 1 | – | – | |
| Yang et al. (29) | NCD | 30 | 3.1 (0.7) | 1 (0.8) | 12 | 1 | 2 | – | 0 | – | – | 0 |
| CD | 30 | 4.4 (1.3) | 1.5 (1.1) | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
| Lu et al. (30) | NCD | 44 | 3.14 (0.98) | – | 0 | – | 15 | – | 0 | – | – | – |
| CD | 45 | 4.13 (0.87) | – | 0 | – | 24 | – | 0 | – | – | – | |
| Liu et al. (38) | NCD | 30 | 1.8 (1.23) | 2 (1.47) | 6 | 5 | 7 | – | 0 | – | – | 0 |
| CD | 30 | 3.8 (0.49) | 2.3 (1.96) | 3 | 2 | 4 | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
| Liu et al. (39) | NCD | 122 | 2.19 (0.93) | – | 14 | 8 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – |
| CD | 13 | 4.08 (2.69) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
–, no reported data; §, data presented as mean (standard deviation); ¶, in 30 days after surgery. CD, chest drain group; LOS, length of postoperative stay; NCD, no chest drain group; PE, pleural effusion; POD1, postoperative day 1; PP, postoperative pain; DIT, drain insertion or thoracocentesis; RO, reoperation; SE, subcutaneous emphysema.