Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair Versus Open Surgery for Stanford Type B Aortic Dissection: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair is a relatively new technique relative to open surgery, and our aim was to assess whether there is a difference in the risk of common postoperative complications between thoracic endovascular aortic repair and open surgery.

METHODS: The PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane library were systematically searched for trials comparing thoracic endovascular aortic repair and open surgical repair from January 2000 to September 2022. Primary outcome was death, other outcomes included common associated complications. Data were combined using risk ratio or standardized mean difference with 95% confidence interval. Funnel plot and egger's test were used for assessing publication bias. The study protocol was registered prospectively with PROSPERO (CRD42022372324).

RESULTS: This trial included 11 controlled clinical studies with 3667 patients. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair had lower risk of death (risk ratio [RR], 0.59; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.73; p < 0.00001; I2 = 0), dialysis (RR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.65; p < 0.00001; I2 = 37%), stroke (RR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.98; p = 0.03; I2 = 40%), bleeding (RR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23 to 0.83; p = 0.01; I2 = 56%), and respiratory complications (RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.76; p < 0.00001; I2 = 37%) compared with open surgical repair. In addition, the length of hospital stay was shorter in the thoracic endovascular aortic repair group (SMD, -0.84; 95% CI, -1.30 to -0.38; p = 0.0003; I2 = 80%).

CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair has significant advantages over open surgical repair, in terms of postoperative complications and survival in Stanford type B aortic dissection patients.