Pancreaticoduodenectomy versus limited resection for duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: By comparing the long-term prognostic outcomes after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and limited resection (LR), this study aimed to investigate the optimal surgical modality for duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). METHODS: Two authors independently searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for published articles comparing the long-term prognostic and clinicopathological factors of duodenal GIST patients undergoing PD versus LR. Relevant information was extracted and analyzed. RESULTS: After screening, 10 items comprising 623 cases were eventually included. This meta-analysis explicitly indicated that PD treatment was associated with worse long-term prognosis (hazard ratio = 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39–2.69; p < 0.001; I(2) = 0) and more complications (odds ratio [OR] = 2.90; 95% CI, 1.90–4.42; p < 0.001; I(2) = 10%) than LR treatment. Nevertheless, for duodenal GISTs, PD was related to the following clinicopathological features: invasion of the second part of the duodenum (OR = 3.39; 95% CI, 1.69–6.79; p < 0.001; I(2) = 50%), high-degree tumor mitosis (> 5/50 high-power fields; OR = 2.24; 95% CI, 1.42–3.52; p < 0.001; I(2) = 0), and high-risk classification (OR = 3.17; 95% CI; 2.13–4.71; p < 0.001; I(2) = 0). CONCLUSIONS: Since PD is associated with worse long-term prognosis and more complications, its safety and efficacy should be ascertained. Our findings recommend the use of LR to obtain negative incision margins when conditions permit it. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12893-019-0587-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.