The optimal extent of surgical resection for non-myasthenic patients with thymoma is controversial. The objective of this meta-analysis was to compare complete to partial thymectomy in non-myasthenic patients for oncological and postoperative clinical outcomes.

We performed a PubMed and EMBASE search (from inception to January 2020) for English-language studies directly comparing partial thymectomy (thymomectomy) to complete thymectomy for thymoma resection. Clinical endpoints studied included overall and disease-free survival, Masaoka and World Health Organization staging, adjuvant therapy, postoperative complications, postoperative drainage, length of hospital stay, thymoma-related deaths, postresection development of myasthenia gravis, incomplete resection, and recurrence. Random effects meta-analyses across all clinical endpoints was done.

There was no statistically significant difference between the two approaches with regard to recurrence (odds ratio [OR], 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78–1.92), completeness of resection (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.66–2.10), adjuvant therapy (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.40–1.26), or thymoma-related deaths (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.12–4.66). There was a statistically significant decrease in postoperative complications (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.39–0.97), drainage (mean difference [MD], –0.99; 95% CI, –1.98 to –0.01), and length of hospital length (MD, –1.88; 95% CI, –3.39 to –0.36) with partial thymectomy.

The evidence appeared to suggest that partial thymectomy is oncologically equivalent to complete thymectomy for non-myasthenic patients with early-stage thymoma. There is an additional advantage of reduced postoperative complications and decreased length of hospital stay with partial thymectomy.