ReviewMeta-analysis of Transhiatal Esophagectomy in carcinoma of esophagogastric junction, does it have an advantage?

•Our meta-analysis didn't reveal survival advantage for the Transhiatal Esophagectomy approach (THE) for adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (CEGJ) in 5-year, 3-year and 5-year disease free survival.•THE showed to decrease the hospital stay, hospital mortality, surgical time, and blood loss in the operation. However, fewer lymph nodes would be yield by this surgical option.•Our meta-analysis failed to show a significantly higher R0 resection rate in the Thoracic Esophagectomy (TTE) group.•Only hospital death showed a convincing decrease after THE.

PurposeCompare the clinical outcome of Transhiatal Esophagectomy (THE) approach and open Thoracic Esophagectomy (TTE) approach in the carcinoma of esophagogastric junction (CEGJ).MethodsRelevant literature published until 2016 from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Ovid (Medline) and EMBASE were retrieved. Meta-analysis was achieved by using the Stata12 software.ResultsA total of 18 studies and 2202 cases of patients were involved in this meta-analysis. THE showed to decrease the hospital stay, hospital mortality, surgical time, and blood loss in the operation. However, fewer lymph nodes would be yielded by this surgical option. A 5-year survival advantage of THE was only observed in North America subgroup.Conclusions: Except the above operative related advantages, there was no clear evidence that THE has a further advantage in CEGJ.