Table 5

The 10 most frequently reported outcomes

Outcome	Theme	Trials reporting outcome (n)	Trials reporting the outcome*
Number of lymph nodes dissected/resected/retrieved	Technical aspects of surgery	22	2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 31, 32
Operative time	Technical aspects of surgery	18	4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30
Anastomotic leak	Adverse events	17	1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32
Pancreatic fistula	Adverse events	15	1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32
Duration of hospital stay	Patient pathway	12	1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 20, 23, 26, 28
Duration of postoperative hospital stay	Recovery from surgery	11	2, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 24, 25, 27, 32
Pneumonia	Adverse events	11	7, 10, 11, 12, 17, 23, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32
‘5-year’ survival	Mortality	11	1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 26
Wound infection	Adverse events	10	2, 6, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 24, 28
Abdominal abscess	Adverse events	10	5, 9, 10, 16, 17, 19, 23, 26, 28, 29