Efficacy and safety of endoscopic and laparoscopic treatment for gastric stromal tumor: a meta-analysis

Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic resection and laparoscopic surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumors(GIST) (diameter<3.5 cm). Methods According to the Cocharane system search strategy, Chinese and English literature comparing endoscopic with laparoscopic treatment of GIST published from January 2000 to March 2018 were collected. Ten articles meeting the inclusion criteria were included and analyzed with Revman 5.3. Results Of the 10 articles, 1 was a prospective randomized controlled trial and 9 were retrospective non-randomized controlled trials. The total number of patients was 1 062. There were 732 cases in the endoscopic treatment group, and 330 cases in the laparoscopic surgery group. The meta-analysis results showed that the endoscopic treatment group had shorter operation time (MD=-30.58 min, 95%CI: -39.31--21.84, P<0.05), less blood loss (MD=-12.99 mL, 95%CI: -16.40--9.57, P<0.05), shorter hospital stay (MD=-3.17 d, 95%CI: -4.76--1.59, P<0.05), and less total cost (MD=-1.63 ten thousand RMB, 95%CI: -2.42--0.84, P<0.05) than those of the laparoscopic group. But there were no significant differences in the positive rate of margin(RR=2.35, 95%CI: 0.52-10.69, P=0.27) or perioperative complications(RR=1.08, 95%CI: 0.48-2.42, P=0.85). Conclusion Existing studies have shown that endoscopic treatment for GIST is effective, minimally invasive, economical with better prognosis, ensuring complete resection. Key words: Meta-analysis; Endoscopes; Laparoscopes; Gastric stromal tumor