Abstract
PURPOSE: Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of the most serious clinical complications in digestive tract reconstruction (DTR) surgery, and it is currently hypothesized that this may be related to insufficient anastomotic blood supply. Thus, Therefore, we aimed to assess the ability of tissue oxygen saturation(StO(2)) as a measure to evaluate anastomotic blood supply. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed using Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library. StO(2) was used as an evaluation index of anastomotic blood supply after DTR to analyze the potential association between this index and the occurrence of AL in the postoperative period. RESULTS: A total of eleven articles involving 867 participants were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. After pooling the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (Cls), low StO(2) was found to be an independent risk factor for AL (P < 0.00001; 95%CI: 1.02 [0.53-1.51]). The mean StO(2) in the AL group (62.3%) was significantly lower than that in the non-AL group (74.3%); AL incidence increased with the reduction of StO(2) to a certain value to 201.8% and 338.1% respectively. CONCLUSION: Oxygen saturation index can be utilized in DTR to accurately and quantitatively evaluate the anastomotic blood supply to reduce the probability of postoperative AL.