Laparoscopic Versus Open Ladd's Procedure for Intestinal Malrotation in Infants and Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Aim: To compare clinical outcomes in infants and children with intestinal malrotation who were treated by laparoscopic or open Ladd's. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library were searched for studies comparing laparoscopy with open Ladd's for intestinal volvulus through January 5, 2021. Search terms were confined to Title/Abstract: "Intestinal Volvulus" OR "Intestinal malrotation" AND "Laparoscopy" AND "Laparotomy." Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and retrospective studies comparing laparoscopy with open Ladd's in neonates, infants, or children were included. Outcomes evaluated included operative time, time to full feeds, length of hospital stay, rate of conversion, reoperation, overall postoperative complications, postoperative adhesive small bowel obstruction, and postoperative volvulus. Pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated for dichotomous variables; pooled mean differences (MDs) were measured for continuous variables. Results: Fourteen studies were included, comprising 444 patients who underwent laparoscopic approach and 1422 patients who underwent open procedure. Laparoscopy group had shorter operative time (MD = -14.44 minutes, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -20.79 to -8.09, P < .00001), hospital stay (MD = -4.57 days, 95% CI = -7.58 to -1.56, P = .003), and time to full feeds (MD = -3.00 days, 95% CI = -3.80 to -2.19, P < .00001). Laparoscopic Ladd's procedure had less overall postoperative complications (OR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.19-0.65, P = .0009), less postoperative adhesive small bowl obstruction (OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.19-0.74, P = .005), and more postoperative volvulus (OR = 2.97, 95% CI = 1.23-7.13, P = .02). There was no difference in incidence of reoperation rate (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 0.96-4.33, P = .06). Conclusion: Laparoscopic procedure is superior to open Ladd's in operative time, hospital stay, time to full feeds, overall postoperative complication, and postoperative adhesive small bowel obstruction. However, more RCTs with adequate follow-up are needed to overcome the limitations of our study.