What do systematic reviews say?

Surgery vs non‐surgical treatment

• Surgery for rotator cuff tears 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 103 participants
  Very low

Surgery vs non‐surgical treatment

• Surgery for rotator cuff tears 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  Very low

Surgery vs preoperative pharmacological therapy and surgery

It is very uncertain whether surgery alone changes adverse events compared with preoperative pharmacological therapy and surgery (very low certainty).

• Surgical and non‐surgical interventions for primary and salvage treatment of growth hormone‐secreting pituitary… 2024 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.23 [0.7, 2.03]
  5 studies · 267 participants
  Very low

Surgery vs Pharmacological therapy

It is very uncertain whether surgery alone changes adverse events compared with pharmacological therapy alone (very low certainty).

• Surgical and non‐surgical interventions for primary and salvage treatment of growth hormone‐secreting pituitary… 2024 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.09 [0.01, 1.47]
  1 study · 22 participants
  Very low

Surgery vs oral medication

Surgery probably leads to lower adverse events at 4 months compared with oral medication (moderate certainty).

• Surgery versus medical therapy for heavy menstrual bleeding 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.26 [0.15, 0.46]
  1 study · 186 participants
  Moderate

Surgery vs no surgery

• Surgery for weight loss in adults 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  4 studies · 438 participants
  Very low

Surgery vs Radiotherapy alone

• Interventions for the treatment of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers: surgical treatment 2023 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Adverse events: grade 2+ treatment-related events similar (31/34 radiotherapy vs 33/34 surgery; RR 0.94, 0.83 to 1.06); more hearing loss/neutropenia/constipation/tinnitus with radiotherapy, more oral bleeding/trismus…
  1 study · 68 participants
  Very low

Surgery vs radiofrequency ablation

Surgery may leads to higher serious adverse events (number of events) compared with radiofrequency ablation (low certainty).

• Management of people with early‐ or very early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma 2017 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  Rate ratio 7.02 [2.29, 21.46]
  2 studies · 391 participants
  Low

Surgery vs radiofrequency ablation

Surgery may leads to higher serious adverse events (number of participants) compared with radiofrequency ablation (low certainty).

• Management of people with early‐ or very early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma 2017 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 17.96 [2.28, 141.6]
  1 study · 120 participants
  Low

iMRI image‐guided surgery vs surgery

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Intraoperative imaging technology to maximise extent of resection for glioma: a network meta‐analysis 2021 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found
• Intraoperative imaging technology to maximise extent of resection for glioma 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Day‐surgery vs overnight stay surgery

It is very uncertain whether day‐surgery changes serious adverse events compared with overnight stay surgery (very low certainty).

• Day‐surgery versus overnight stay surgery for laparoscopic cholecystectomy 2013 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  Rate Ratio 3.24 [0.74, 14.09]
  4 studies · 391 participants
  Very low

5‐ALA image‐guided surgery vs surgery

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Intraoperative imaging technology to maximise extent of resection for glioma: a network meta‐analysis 2021 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found
• Intraoperative imaging technology to maximise extent of resection for glioma 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Neuronavigation image‐guided surgery vs surgery

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Intraoperative imaging technology to maximise extent of resection for glioma: a network meta‐analysis 2021 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found
• Intraoperative imaging technology to maximise extent of resection for glioma 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Surgery with excision of failed tape vs surgery without excision of tape

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Interventions for treating recurrent stress urinary incontinence after failed minimally invasive synthetic midurethral… 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Decompressive surgery plus radiotherapy vs radiotherapy

• Interventions for the treatment of metastatic extradural spinal cord compression in adults 2015 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 101 participants
  GRADE not reported

Surgery plus whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) vs stereotactic radiosurgery

It is very uncertain whether surgery plus whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) changes adverse events compared with stereotactic radiosurgery (very low certainty).

• Surgery versus stereotactic radiotherapy for people with single or solitary brain metastasis 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.31 [0.07, 1.44]
  1 study · 64 participants
  Very low

Surgery vs LNG‐IUS

Surgery probably leads to lower proportion of women with adverse events Endometrial ablation versus… compared with LNG‐IUS (moderate certainty).

• Surgery versus medical therapy for heavy menstrual bleeding 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.51 [0.36, 0.74]
  3 studies · 201 participants
  Moderate

Biaxial microincision cataract surgery (B‐MICS) vs standard phacoemulsification

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Different‐sized incisions for phacoemulsification in age‐related cataract 2017 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Smaller coaxial microincision cataract surgery (C‐MICS) vs standard phacoemulsification

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Different‐sized incisions for phacoemulsification in age‐related cataract 2017 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Smaller coaxial microincision cataract surgery (C‐MICS) vs larger C‐MICS

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Different‐sized incisions for phacoemulsification in age‐related cataract 2017 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found