The effect of laparoscopic and abdominal surgery on the treatment of ectopic pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective This study aimed to compare the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery (LS) and abdominal surgery (AS) in ectopic pregnancy surgery. Methods A computer-based search was conducted in several databases such as CNKI, Wanfang data, VIP data, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM disc), PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and others to gather domestic and foreign literature on treating ectopic pregnancy. This search was carried out from the inception of each database to July 2022. The literature review was performed using Endnote X9 software, and the data were analyzed using STATA 15.1 software for the meta-analysis. Results Eight articles that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The meta-analysis showed that the laparoscopic group had shorter operation time than AS group [SMD = −1.28, 95%CI (−2.02, 0.54), p = 0.001], had less intraoperative bleeding [SMD = −3.06, 95%CI (−3.82, −2.31), p < 0.01], shorter postoperative anus exhaust time [SMD = −2.60, 95%CI (−3.26, −1.93), p < 0.01], and shorter hospital stay [SMD = −1.74, 95%CI (−2.09, −1.39), p < 0.01] with few complications [RR = 0.22, 95%CI (0.08, 0.55), p = 0.001]. Conclusion LS has more evident advantages in the treatment of patients with ectopic pregnancy. However, due to the lack of English literature that meets the inclusion criteria, further studies are needed to determine if LS has the same efficacy for European and American populations.