ArticleGland surgery2020
Trans-sternotomy versus video-assisted thoracic surgery for early-stage thymoma patients: a meta-analysis.
Article in Gland surgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Oncologic outcomes and predictors of recurrence following minimally invasive and open surgery for thymoma.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- Comparing the safety and efficacy of thoracoscopic surgery and thoracotomy for thymoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Gland surgery · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOver the years, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) thymectomy has progressively replaced trans-sternotomy (TS) in early-stage thymoma (Masaoka stage I and stage II). This meta-analysis aimed to confirm the differences in the efficacies of VATS and TS approaches in early-stage thymoma patients.
methodsA thorough literature search of the following online databases was performed: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and EMBASE. Appropriate search terms, such as "thymoma or thymus neoplasms or Thymic Carcinoma" and "Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgeries or Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic", were used with MeSH search methods. Heterogeneity was assessed first with the Q-test and inconsistency index and sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were then used to find the source of heterogeneity.
resultsWe retrieved 1,228 articles, 11 articles were selected as the subjects of our research, and 1,222 patients were included in the research (666 VATS cases versus 556 TS cases). VATS caused less blood loss (P=0.02), and required shorter hospital stay (P<0.001), shorter duration of chest tube drainage (P=0.03) than TS. No obvious difference was found in operative time (P=0.14), postoperative recurrence (OR =0.81, 95% CI: 0.35-1.85, P=0.613), postoperative complications (OR =0.60, 95% CI: 0.31-1.16, P=0.129) and R0 resection (OR =0.35, 95% CI: 0.12-1.04, P=0.06), but the trend showed that more patients in the TS group achieved R0 resection.
conclusionsFor early-stage thymoma patients, VATS thymectomy seems to provide many advantages to be considered as a legitimate alternative to TS; however, when performing VATS, surgeons should pay special attention to ensure that R0 resection is achieved.
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