Minimally invasive drainage versus open surgical debridement in SAP/SMAP – a network meta-analysis

Background The efficacy of some therapeutic methods (open surgical debridement (OSD), conservative treatment (CST) and minimally invasive drainage (MID)) for severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and moderately severe acute pancreatitis (MSAP) has been widely evaluated. However, the results remained controversial. We performed this study to illuminate whether any difference in incidence exists on patients with SAP/MSAP treated with OSD and MID. Methods Eligible articles were collected base of a comprehensive review of PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANE, CKNI and WANGFANG for published randomized controlled trials. Two steps of meta-analysis were performed, routine pair-wise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis. Results Thirteen studies were included in this study. Participants were classed as 5 groups, CST, early MID (EMID), late MID (LMID), early OSD (EOSD) and late OSD (LOSD). And MID contains endoscopic drainage (ESD), percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) and minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Compared with CST, MID could decrease both mortality and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) rate but OSD couldn’t. Both EMID and MID can significantly decrease the mortality and MODS rate compared to CST. PCD might be most likely to have a benefit compared to CST. Conclusion Existing evidence for the use of MID in SAP/MSAP is reliable and it can be used as early treatment. OSD, if necessary, should be avoided or delayed as long as possible.