Efficiency and safety of surgical intervention to patients with Non-Cystic Fibrosis bronchiectasis: a meta-analysis

No quantitative systematic review was found to report the efficiency and safety of surgical resection in the management of non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) bronchiectasis. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to assess the effects of operative intervention to patients with non-CF bronchiectasis. PubMed, the Cochrane library and Web of Science databases were searched up to July 8th, 2015. The pooled mortality from 34 studies recruiting 4788 patients was 1.5% (95% CI, 0.9–2.5%). The pooled morbidity from 33 studies consisting of 4583 patients was 16.7% (95% CI, 14.8–18.6%). The pooled proportion of patients from 35 studies, consisting of 4614 patients who were free of symptoms was 66.5% (95% CI, 61.3–71.7%) after surgery. The summary proportion of patients from 35 articles including 4279 participants who were improved was 27.5% (95% CI, 22.5–32.5%), and 9.1% (95% CI, 7.3–11.5%) showed no clinical improvement. In conclusion, our analysis indicated that lung resection in the management of non-CF bronchiectasis is associated with significant improvements in symptoms, low risk of mortality and acceptable morbidity.