Abstract: Objective To investigate the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among liver cirrhosis patients whether treated by transjugular intrahepatic portal shunt (TIPS). Methods Randomized controlled trial, case control studies, chohort studies or cross-sectional study on HCC occurrence in TIPS group and non-TIPS group were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WANFANG, CBM and VIP databases. Literature was extracted according to Cochran systematic evaluation method, and NOS scale was used to evaluate literature quality and conduct statistical analysis. Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan5.3. Results A total of 8 studies involving 1,780 patients (755 in TIPS group and 1025 in non-TIPS group) were included. The results of random effects model showed that the incidence rates of HCC in the TIPS and non-TIPS groups were 13.64% (103/755) and 13.56% (139/1025) respectively. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups (OR: 1.65, 95%CI: 0.69 ~ 2.06; P=0.52). Subgroup analysis showed that in viral cirrhosis and mainly covered stents subgroups, there was no significant correlation between TIPS and the occurrence of HCC (P>0.05). However, in mainly bare stents subgroup, the risk of HCC was 1.57 times higher in the TIPS group than that in the non-TIPS group, and the difference was statistically significant (95%CI: 1.06 ~ 2.34, P=0.03). Conclusion Based on current researches, with the widespread application of covered stents in TIPS, the risk of HCC in patients with cirrhosis will not increase.

Key words: Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Liver Cirrhosis, Meta-Analysis