Table 1 General characteristics of included systematic review
Characteristics | n = 155 |
|---|---|
No of authors a | 6 (2–21) |
No of study included a | 7 (1–44) |
No of participants included a | 1167 (80–19,886) |
No of database included a | 4 (1–15) |
Methodologist involved | 23 (14.8) |
Cochrane SR | 25 (16.1) |
PRISMA mentioned | 89 (57.4) |
Type of journal | |
 General | 109 (70.3) |
 Surgical | 46 (29.7) |
Country of corresponded author | |
 China | 48 (31.0) |
 USA | 22 (14.2) |
 UK | 18 (11.6) |
 Italy | 12 (7.7) |
 Australia | 12 (7.7) |
 Other | 43 (27.8) |
Type of comparison | |
 Surgical versus surgical | 132 (85.2) |
 Surgical versus non-surgical | 17 (10.9) |
 Surgical versus both | 6 (3.9) |
Comparisons between different surgical procedures | |
 Procedures | 79 (59.8) |
 Devices | 53 (40.2) |
Specialty | |
 General | 54 (34.9) |
 Cardiothoracic | 45 (29.0) |
 Orthopedic | 24 (15.5) |
 Other | 32 (20.6) |