title: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is as safe and feasible as open procedure: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) compared with open distal pancreatectomy (ODP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Meta-analysis was performed using the databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science and BIOSIS Previews. Articles should contain quantitative data of the comparison of LDP and ODP. Each article was reviewed by two authors. Indices of operative time, spleen-preserving rate, time to fluid intake, ratio of malignant tumors, postoperative hospital stay, incidence rate of pancreatic fistula and overall morbidity rate were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine articles with 1341 patients who underwent pancreatectomy met the inclusion criteria. LDP was performed in 501 (37.4%) patients, while ODP was performed in 840 (62.6%) patients. There were significant differences in the operative time, time to fluid intake, postoperative hospital stay and spleen-preserving rate between LDP and ODP. There was no difference between the two groups in pancreatic fistula rate [random effects model, risk ratio (RR) 0.996 (0.663, 1.494), P = 0.983, I² = 28.4%] and overall morbidity rate [random effects model, RR 0.81 (0.596, 1.101), P = 0.178, I² = 55.6%].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LDP has the advantages of shorter hospital stay and operative time, more rapid recovery and higher spleen-preserving rate as compared with ODP.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310016, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xiao-Wu
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jia-Fei
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Mou
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D010185:Pancreatic Fistula / Q000601:surgery; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery