Intracorporeal versus extracorporeal urinary diversion in robot-assisted radical cystectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess and compare the perioperative and oncological outcomes of intracorporeal (ICUD) and extracorporeal (ECUD) urinary diversion following robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC). A systematic literature search of articles was performed in PubMed ® , Web of Science ® , and Scopus ® databases according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis statement. We included studies that compared patients who underwent RARC with ICUD to those with ECUD. Twelve studies including 3067 patients met the eligibility criteria. There were no significant differences between ICUD and ECUD in overall and major complications, regardless of the period (short-term [≤ 30 days] or mid-term [> 30 days]). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that ICUD performed by high-volume centers exhibited a significantly reduced risk of major complications (short-term: OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.37–0.86, p = 0.008, mid-term: OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46–0.94, p = 0.02). Patients who underwent ICUD had lower estimated blood loss (MD -102.3 ml, 95% CI − 132.8 to − 71.8, p