Thirty Years of Minimally Invasive Surgery in Children: Analysis of Meta-Analyses

This comprehensive review of 43 meta-analyses spanning three decades evaluates minimally invasive surgery versus open procedures in pediatric patients across visceral, urologic, and thoracoscopic operations. While 77% of analyses identified advantages such as shorter hospital stays and faster feeding times, 53% also found disadvantages including longer operative duration and higher recurrence rates for specific procedures, highlighting the need for more randomized controlled trials to establish clear evidence-based guidelines.