Anatomy and clinical significance of the gastrocolic venous turnk: a meta-analysis        ZHAO Li-ying, ZHANG Ce, LI Guo-xin. Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
Corresponding author: LI Guo-xin, E-mail: gzliguoxin@163.com
Abstract    Objective    The aim of this study was to describe the anatomy of the gastrocolic venous trunk based on the literatures, emphasize its significance in surgery especially in laparoscopic extend right hemicolectomy. Methods Databases as CNKI, CBM, VIP ,WF, PubMed and EMbase were searched for literatures on the description of the gartrocolic venous trunk or the tributaries of the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) to analyze the tributaries of the gartrocolic venous trunk in a new classification basing on the clinical application. Two researchers selected studies and extracted data independently using a designed extraction form. Results    A total of 11 literatures involving 698 objects of study were enrolled in this study. The venous trunk was found in 622(89.1%) specimens and the gastrocolic trunk(GCT), gastropancreatic trunk (GPT) and gastropancreaticocolic trunk (GPCT) were found in 24.8%,16.8% and 52.6% respectively. The main tributary pattern of the GCT was the right colic vein (RCV) joining up with the right gastroepiploic vein (RGeV). The GPCT was the most frequent component of the venous trunk. The mean caliber and length of the venous trunk were 5.0mm (range 2-10mm) and 14.0mm ( range 2-47mm). Conclusions    The gastrocolic venous trunk present in most of people. It can be classified in three types basing on the clinical significance. The GPCT was the most frequent one. Handing the anatomy of the gastrocoliv venous trunk is very important to operation, especially to laparoscopic extend right hemicolectomy.