Impact of psychological interventions on the intraoperative outcomes in transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of psychological interventions on the intraoperative outcomes in patients undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for liver cancer. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted using computer databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and Wanfang Database. Reference lists of relevant studies were also reviewed to ensure completeness. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Jadad scoring system. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2.7, a statistical software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration. Results: A total of eight studies comprising 790 patients were included, comparing psychological intervention groups with control groups. The meta-analysis revealed significant differences favoring the psychological intervention group in systolic blood pressure (MD = −15.95 mmHg, 95% CI: −22.31 to −9.25, P < 0.0001), heart rate (MD = −10.68 bpm, 95% CI: −13.87 to −7.48, P < 0.0001), anxiety scores (MD = −2.39, 95% CI: −3.35 to −1.43, P < 0.0001), and the incidence of intraoperative anxiety (OR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.52, P < 0.0001) compared to the control group. Conclusion: Psychological interventions significantly alleviated negative emotions in patients undergoing TACE for liver cancer, contributing to better intraoperative stability in the control group. These findings suggest that psychological support may facilitate the smooth conduct of the TACE and potentially enhance overall treatment outcomes.