The difference between preserving and non-preserving left colonic artery for low rectal cancer: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Abstract
 Object: The aim of this study is to compare the superiority and safety of preserving and non-preserving left colonic artery.
 Method: PubMed, Google scholar and Medline were searched for eligible studies between 1965 to 2018. Operative time, blood loss, number of resected lymph nodes, anastomotic leakage, and ileus, and morbidity, hospital length of stay, wound infection and mortality were the main outcome study. 
 Result: 23 studies involving 10,644 patients were included in the analyses. Compared with the preserving approach, the non-preserving approach had less operative time (weighted mean difference [WMD]=9.37 min, 95% CI [8.92,9.81], p