title: The efficacy of spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy with or without splenic vessel preservation: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy can be performed with splenic vessel preservation (SPDP-SVP) or splenic vessel resection (SPDP-SVR). This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing SPDP-SVP or SPDP-SVR.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed. The operative time, estimated blood loss, postoperative complications, pancreatic fistula (Grade B+C) rates, splenic infarction rates, gastric/perigastric varices rates and postoperative hospital stay were evaluated. RevMan 5.3 software was used to evaluate the differences between groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine studies involving 639 patients were included in this meta-analysis, of whom 402 underwent SPDP-SVP and 237 underwent SPDP-SVR. Patients who underwent SPDP-SVP had lower splenic infarction and gastric/perigastric varices rates. The operative time, estimated blood loss, postoperative complications, pancreatic fistula (Grade B+C) rates and postoperative hospital stays were comparable between these two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SPDP-SVP and SPDP-SVR are both safe, feasible procedures for the management of benign or low-grade malignant pancreatic body or tail tumors. However, SPDP-SVR is related to higher incidence rates of early splenic ischemia and gastric/perigastric varices.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestion, General Hospital of Chengdu Military Command Chengdu 610083, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Shanhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Sanyuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
keywords: Distal pancreatectomy; meta-analysis; spleen-preserving; splenic vessel