1. Comparison of thermal ablation and routine surgery for the treatment of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a systematic review and Meta-analysis
- Author
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Yi Xie, Anjing Ren, Shengbai Xue, Kangjie Shen, Jing Li, Kexuan Wang, Yifan Sun, Boqiang Fan, Lingjun Zhu, Hongye Wang, Guochao Xu, and Tao Guo
- Subjects
China ,Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Physiology ,Radiofrequency ablation ,Thermal ablation ,Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,law.invention ,surgery ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,law ,Physiology (medical) ,medicine ,Medical technology ,Humans ,papillary thyroid microcarcinoma ,Thyroid Neoplasms ,R855-855.5 ,Retrospective Studies ,Laser ablation ,business.industry ,Microwave ablation ,Carcinoma, Papillary ,Surgery ,meta-analysis ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Meta-analysis ,microwave ablation ,laser ablation ,radiofrequency ablation ,Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ,business - Abstract
Background Thermal ablation (TA), as an alternative to surgery, has shown some benefits in the treatment of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) patients, especially for those who are at high risk for surgery or refuse surgery. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficiency, safety, and economy of TA, compared with those of routine surgery (RS), for the treatment of PTMC. Methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP databases were retrieved from inception to 10 January 2020 to identify relevant original studies on comparison of TA and RS for treatment of PTMC. The recurrence rate, recurrence-free survival (RFS), complication rate, operation time, postoperative length of stay, and cost during the perioperative period were extracted as main indices. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated and analyzed. Chi-square test and I2 statistic were applied to determine the heterogeneity among studies. The sensitivity analysis was applied to explore the origin of heterogeneity, and the publication bias was evaluated by Egger’s test. Results Seven retrospective studies with a total of 867 patients met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final meta-analysis. Our study demonstrated that TA showed significant reduction in complication with a pooled OR 0.24 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.43), postoperative length of stay with a pooled SMD −3.14 (95% CI −4.77 to −1.51) and cost during the perioperative period with a pooled SMD of −1.69 (95% CI −3.18 to −0.20). It also demonstrated that both TA and RS had similar pooled proportion of recurrence of OR 0.93 (95% CI 0.38 to 2.30) and recurrence-free survive (RFS). The sensitivity analysis showed that each included study had no significant effect on the results and the results were stable and reliable. The Egger’s test demonstrated publication bias was acceptable. Conclusions TA may not be oncologically inferior to RS, and it is a relatively safe and economical alternative for the treatment of PTMC.
- Published
- 2020