ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effects of ω-3 fatty acid on liver function in patients undergoing hepatectomy. Methods A PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library database search was performed to retrieve all of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the value of perioperative ω-3 fatty acid in patients undergoing hepatectomy until the end of September 2016. Data extraction and quality assessment of RCT were performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The quality of evidence for each postoperative outcome was assessed using the GRAD Profiler system. A random-effects model was used to conduct a Meta-analysis with RevMan 5.3.5 software. Results Five documents were identified according to the inclusion criteria. Meta- analysis results showed that ω- 3 fatty acid significantly reduced the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) on the third day of the operation in patients undergoing hepatectomy: mean difference ( MD ) = -74.89 and-60.87, 95% CI-110.02?39.76 and-96.05?-25.68, P＜0.01; ω-3 fatty acid significantly increased the level of prealbumin (Pre-Alb) on the third day of the operation: MD＝9.61, 95% CI 4.22?15.00, P＜0.01; but ω-3 fatty acid did not improve the levels of total bilirubin (TBil) and albumin (Alb) on the third day of the operation: MD=-1.13 and 1.16, 95% CI-2.48?0.21 and-0.35?2.68, P＞0.05. Conclusions The ω-3 fatty acid is potentially beneficial in reducing the levels of ALT and AST, and increases the level of Pre-Alb on the third day of the operation in patients undergoing hepatectomy, but does not improve the levels of TBil and Alb.