Objective: Our study is the first meta-analysis to compare total mesorectal excision (TME) plus lateral lymph node dissection (LLND) with TME on rectal cancer patients regarding outcomes including overall survival, disease-free survival, local recurrence, complications, urinary dysfunction, and sexual dysfunction.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library were searched for publications up to October 2019. Two investigators independently screened the studies for eligibility and extracted specific data. Relevant data were analyzed by Review Manager version 5.3.
Results: Patients in TME + LLND group suffered more complications (OR = 1.48, 95% CI [1.07, 2.03], P = 0.02) compared with TME group; no significant difference was observed in overall survival (HR = 1.11, 95% CI [0.77, 1.61], P = 0.57), disease-free survival (HR = 1.05, 95% CI [0.85, 1.30], P = 0.64), local recurrence (OR = 0.93, 95% CI [0.56, 1.54], P = 0.78), and urinary dysfunction (OR = 1.60, 95% CI [0.66, 3.87], P = 0.3).
Conclusion: TME + LLND may cause more complications compared with TME on rectal cancer patients. However, the definite conclusion still requires more researches.
Keywords: Malignant; Rectal cancer; Total mesorectal excision.