{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T10:38:16Z","timestamp":1785407896687,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,24]],"date-time":"2023-12-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1703376000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic influenced the healthcare system tremendously, as well as the number of elective surgical procedures worldwide. The aim of this study is to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic\u2019s impact on esophagectomies. Materials and Methods: The MEDLINE (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar bibliographical databases were systematically searched. Original clinical studies investigating the outcomes of esophageal cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic were deemed eligible. After exclusion criteria were applied, eight studies were considered eligible for inclusion. Results: Eight studies with non-overlapping populations, reporting on patients undergoing esophagectomy for resectable esophageal cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, were included in our analysis, with a total of 18548 patients. Background characteristics for age, lung disease, smoking history as well as Body Mass Index and age were equal among the groups. The background of diabetes presented a statistically significant difference among the groups. Perioperative outcomes like reoperation rates, the length of intensive care unit stay, or readmission rates were not significantly increased during the pandemic. The 30-day readmission, and 30- and 90-day mortality were not affected either. The length of hospital stay was significantly lower in the non-pandemic period. Conclusions: The results of our study support the evidence that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, esophageal cancer operations took place safely and effectively, similarly to the standards of the non-COVID-19 era.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina60010031","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,24]],"date-time":"2023-12-24T20:44:15Z","timestamp":1703450655000},"page":"31","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Anastomotic Leak and Perioperative Outcomes of Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"60","author":[{"given":"Georgios","family":"Geropoulos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Second Surgical Propedeutic Department, Hippocration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7859-3035","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stavros","family":"Moschonas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Working Group, Society of Junior Doctors, 15123 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georgios","family":"Fanariotis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Working Group, Society of Junior Doctors, 15123 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aggeliki","family":"Koltsida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Working Group, Society of Junior Doctors, 15123 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nikolaos","family":"Madouros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Working Group, Society of Junior Doctors, 15123 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evgenia","family":"Koumadoraki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Working Group, Society of Junior Doctors, 15123 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3858-4473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kontantinos","family":"Katsikas Triantafyllidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Royal Marsden Hospital, London SW3 6JJ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6681-8479","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantinos S.","family":"Kechagias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Uxbridge UB8 3NN, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georgios","family":"Koimtzis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitrios","family":"Giannis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Flushing, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Athanasios","family":"Notopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hippocration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Efstathios T.","family":"Pavlidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Second Surgical Propedeutic Department, Hippocration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kyriakos","family":"Psarras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Second Surgical Propedeutic Department, Hippocration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jss.2022.12.018","article-title":"The COVID-19 Era Is Associated With Delays in Esophageal Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment","volume":"285","author":"Khan","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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