Intrathoracic versus cervical anastomosis in esophagectomy for esophageal cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND

Intrathoracic anastomosis and cervical anastomosis are very common in the esophagectomy of esophageal cancer; we aimed to evaluate the effects and safety of intrathoracic anastomosis versus cervical anastomosis in the esophagectomy.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Knowledge, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang databases up to September 30, 2021, for randomized controlled trials focused on cervical anastomosis versus intrathoracic anastomosis for the treatment of esophageal cancer.

RESULTS

In total, 12 randomized controlled trials involving 1,493 patients were finally included. The incidence of anastomotic leak [relative risk = 2.76, 95% confidence interval (1.94∼3.94), P < .001] and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury [relative risk = 6.12, 95% confidence interval (3.02∼12.41), P < .001] in the intrathoracic anastomosis group were less than that of the cervical anastomosis group. There were no significant differences in the incidence of anastomotic stenosis [relative risk = 1.33, 95% confidence interval (0.88∼2.00), P = .18], pneumonia [relative risk = 1.31, 95% confidence interval (0.82∼2.09), P = .25], postoperative chylothorax [relative risk = 1.01, 95% confidence interval (0.40∼2.52), P = .99], and mortality [relative risk = 0.93, 95% confidence interval (0.52∼1.68), P = .82] between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSION

Intrathoracic anastomosis is associated with significantly reduced risk of leak and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury compared with cervical anastomosis.