Procedure‐related complications of open vs endoscopic fetal surgery for treatment of spina bifida in an era of intrauterine myelomeningocele repair: systematic review and meta‐analysis

ABSTRACT Objective To assess and compare the rate of procedure‐related complications after intrauterine treatment of spina bifida by endoscopic surgery and by open fetal surgery. Methods Systematic literature searches in PubMed and SCOPUS databases were performed on 20 September 2015 to identify randomized controlled trials and observational studies on treatment of human spina bifida by endoscopic or open fetal surgery techniques. Only studies with ≥ 10 cases that were published in or after 2000 were included in the meta‐analysis in order to reduce the risk of bias. Primary outcomes (complete dehiscence, focal dehiscence and/or markedly thin hysterotomy scar; preterm delivery