ArticleGland surgery2025
Which is the best surgical approach for thymectomy: robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS), video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), thoracotomy (TORA) or subxiphoid video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (SPT)?-a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Article in Gland surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Educational quality of YouTube videos on robot-assisted thymectomy: a LAP-VEGaS-based evaluation.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Recurrence and primary TETs: is it the same disease?-a narrative review.Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China) · 2026Review
- Robotic-assisted thymectomy for locally advanced thymic malignancy: technical refinement and oncologic outcomes from a 20-year cohort.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Thymectomy is indicated in the presence of primary thymic diseases such as thymoma. However, there is no clear conclusion which is the best surgical approach for thymectomy. We performed this network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the outcomes of different surgical approaches for thymectomy. Methods: An exhaustive search of PubMed, Excerpt Medica Database (EMBASE), Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) was conducted to identify relevant studies from inception to May 1, 2024. Direct and indirect evidence was combined to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) or standardized mean differences (SMDs), along with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Cluster analyses were adopted to compare the outcomes of different surgical approaches according to the similarity of two variables. Publication bias was detected by comparison-adjusted funnel plots. Results: Fifty-eight studies were enrolled in this NMA, involving four surgical approaches: thoracotomy (TORA), robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS), video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and subxiphoid video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (SPT). The results indicated that in terms of blood loss, RATS was the least, and TORA had more blood loss than VATS and SPT. As for pleural drainage volume, TORA had more pleural drainage volume than VATS and SPT. In terms of visual analogue scale (VAS) score, VATS and TORA had higher VAS scores than SPT. The complete stable remission (CSR) of RATS was superior to that of VATS and TORA. Conclusions: SPT has faster postoperative recovery and less postoperative pain, and other perioperative outcomes are not inferior to other surgical approaches. RATS is safer and has certain clinical advantages in CSR. We look forward to more large-sample, high-quality randomized controlled studies published in the future.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.