Staple line oversewing during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

Introduction This meta-analysis was performed to assess the possible benefits of staple line oversewing during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Methods A comprehensive search up to February 2017 was conducted on PubMed, the Web of Science™ and Embase™. All eligible studies were included, and the outcomes of staple line bleeding and leak, overall complications and operative time were pooled. Results A total of 7 randomised controlled trials involving 845 patients (428 cases and 417 controls) were analysed. There was no significant difference in staple line bleeding (relative risk [RR]: 0.858, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.343-2.143, p=0.742), leak (RR: 0.650, 95% CI: 0.257-1.644, p=0.363) or overall complications (RR: 0.913, 95% CI: 0.621-1.342, p=0.644) between the oversewing group and the patients who did not have oversewing. Oversewing of the staple line was associated with a longer operative time (weighted mean difference: 14.400, 95% CI: 7.198-21.602, p=0.000). Conclusions Oversewing the staple line during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy does not decrease the risk of staple line bleeding, leakage or overall complications but it does prolong the operative time.