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Published on: March 3, 2023
Synchronous colorectal liver metastasis: a network meta-analysis review comparing classical, combined, and
M E Kelly1, G Spolverato, G N Lê
1Department of Surgery, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Background:
In recent years, the management of synchronous colorectal liver metastasis has changed significantly. Alternative surgical strategies to the classical colorectal-first approach have been proposed. These include the liver-first and combined resections approaches. The objectives of this review were to compare the short- and long-term outcomes for all three approaches.
Methods:
A systematic review of comparative studies was performed. Evaluated endpoints included surgical outcomes (5-year overall survival, 30-day mortality, and post-operative complications). Pair-wise and network meta-analysis (NMA) were performed to compare survival outcomes.
Results:
Eighteen studies were included in this review, reporting on 3,605 patients. NMA and pair-wise meta-analysis of the 5-year overall survival did not show significant difference between the three surgical approaches: combined versus colorectal-first, mean odds ratio (OR) 1.02 (95% CI 0.8-1.28, P = 0.93); liver-first versus colorectal-first, mean OR 0.81 (95% CI 0.53-1.26, P = 0.37); liver-first versus combined, mean OR 0.80 (95% CI 0.52-1.24, P = 0.41). In addition NMA of the 30-day mortality among the three approaches also did not observe statistical difference. Analysis of variance showed that mean post-operative complications of all approaches were comparable (P = 0.51).
Conclusion:
There are considerable differences in the peri-operative management of synchronous CLM patients. This meta-analysis demonstrated no clear statistical surgical outcome or survival advantage towards any of the three approaches.
