Network meta-analysis compares EBUS techniques for mediastinal lymphadenopathy diagnostic yield

INTRODUCTION: Mediastinal and/or hilar lymphadenopathy (MHL) has become more frequently identified. Despite advances in endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided sampling, evidence on the optimal modality is lacking. This systematic review and network meta-analysis aimed to compare the diagnostic performance and safety of different EBUS-guided sampling methods in MHL. METHODS: This study was performed on published studies reporting the diagnostic performance and complications of EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA), EBUS-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-TBMC), EBUS-guided transbronchial forceps biopsy (EBUS-TBFB) to sample MHL. The outcomes included the diagnostic yield, diagnostic sensitivity, negative predictive value and complications. A frequentist random-effects model was employed to rank the diagnostic performance and safety for network meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed with stratification by disease. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies with 2357 patients were included. EBUS-TBMC had the highest diagnostic yield, at 88.0%, surpassing EBUS-TBFB (77.1%) and EBUS-TBNA (67.7%). For lymphoma, EBUS-TBMC achieved a diagnostic sensitivity of 94.1%, substantially higher than EBUS-TBNA (40.8%). For benign conditions, EBUS-TBMC (87.9%) also outperformed EBUS-TBNA (55.2%). In the network meta-analysis, the combination of EBUS-TBMC with EBUS-TBNA was the most effective approach and was significantly better than EBUS-TBNA alone. EBUS-TBMC was the best single method for diagnosing sarcoidosis. EBUS sampling can be considered acceptably safe, with the vast majority of complications being grade 1-2 bleeding. CONCLUSION: EBUS-TBNA remains the established standard for diagnosing lung cancer among patients with MHL. EBUS-TBMC demonstrates superior overall performance, particularly in the diagnosis of benign entities and rare carcinomas. EBUS-TBFB plays a supplementary role. All of the techniques exhibit an acceptable safety profile.