Incidence of postoperative venous thromboembolism after laparoscopic versus open colorectal cancer surgery: a meta-analysis.

The objective of this study was to systematically compare the incidence of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE; deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism) in patients with colorectal cancer after laparoscopic surgery and conventional open surgery. A systematic search of Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was conducted. Eleven randomized control trials involving 3058 individuals who reported VTE outcomes were identified, of whom 1677 were treated with laparoscopic therapy and 1381 underwent open surgery. The combined results of the individual trials showed no statistically significant difference in the odds ratio for overall VTE (odds ratio 0.64, 95% confidence interval, 0.33-1.23, P=0.18), as well as in subgroups of deep vein thrombosis and anticoagulant prophylaxis between these 2 approaches. In conclusion, laparoscopic resection could achieve similar outcomes in terms of the incidence of VTE, which are associated with long-term benefits of the patients.