Comparison of short-term surgical outcomes and long-term survival between emergency and elective surgery for colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective The objective of this study was to summarize relevant data from previous reports and perform a meta-analysis to compare short-term surgical outcomes and long-term oncological outcomes between emergency and elective surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed and Embase databases, and relevant data were extracted. Postoperative morbidity, hospital mortality within 30 days, postoperative recovery, overall survival (OS), and relapse-free survival (RFS) were compared using a fixed or random-effect model. Results A total of 28 studies involving 353,686 participants were enrolled for this systematic review and meta-analysis, and 23.5% (83,054/353,686) of CRC patients underwent emergency surgery. The incidence of emergency presentations in CRC patients ranged from 2.7 to 38.8%. The lymph node yield of emergency surgery was comparable to that of elective surgery (WMD:0.70, 95%CI: − 0.74,2.14, P = 0.340; I 2 = 80.6%). Emergency surgery had a higher risk of postoperative complications (OR:1.83, 95%CI:1.62–2.07, P < 0.001; I 2 = 10.6%) and hospital mortality within 30 days (OR:4.62, 95%CI:4.18–5.10, P < 0.001; I 2 = 42.9%) than elective surgery for CRC. In terms of long-term oncological outcomes, emergency surgery was significantly associated with poorer RFS (HR: 1.51, 95%CI:1.24–1.83, P < 0.001; I 2 = 58.9%) and OS(HR:1.60, 95%CI: 1.47–1.73, P < 0.001; I 2 = 63.4%) of CRC patients. In addition, the subgroup analysis for colon cancer patients revealed a pooled HR of 1.73 for OS (95%CI:1.52–1.96, P < 0.001), without the evidence of significant heterogeneity ( I 2 = 21.2%). Conclusion Emergency surgery for CRC had an adverse impact on short-term surgical outcomes and long-term survival. A focus on early screening programs and health education was warranted to reduce emergency presentations of CRC patients.