To systematically evaluate and compare the surgical operation and transarterial embolization (TAE) in the treatment of hepatic hemangioma.

The trials concerning surgical operation and TAE treatment for hepatic hemangioma were searched from database, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) and Wanfang Data. The retrieval time was from the establishment of database to November 2016, and the references in the literature were traced back. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the selected scientific studies were separately screened by two researchers. The data were extracted and evaluated. RevMan 5.3 software was used to make statistical analysis.

Six studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in this analysis and included 521 patients with 326 treated with surgical operation and 295 with TAE. Our data analysis indicated that the recurrence rates (OR=0.02, 95%CI: 0.00-0.08, P<0.05) in surgical operation group were significantly lower than those in TAE group. Surgical operation group had significantly longer mean operation lasting time (OR=1.25, 95%CI: 0.88-1.62, P<0.05) , hospitalization (OR=1.94, 95%CI: 1.50-2.39, P<0.05) and recovery time (OR=1.18, 95%CI: 0.44-1.91, P=0.002) than those in TAE group. Besides, overall cost (OR=0.25, 95%CI: -1.04-1.53, P=0.71) and post-procedure complications rates (OR=3.42, 95%CI: 0.96-12.25, P=0.06) had no significant difference between two groups.

Both surgical operation and TAE are safe and effective in the treatment of hepatic hemangioma. Surgical operation was superior to TAE in terms of tumor recurrence. However, surgical operation had longer operation lasting time, hospitalization and recovery time, and there was no significant difference in the cost and post-procedure complications rates between two treatments. As a result, the treatment strategy should be determined based on the factors referred above.