Data abstraction
Data from the finally selected studies were abstracted on a data extraction form. The following information was retrieved after a thorough review of the full text – (a) author, (b) year, (c) number of patients, (d) height/weight, (e) sex, (f) number of centres involved, (g) study design, (h) operator experience, (i) EBUS bronchoscope type and procedure approach, (j) anaesthesia, (k) number of nodal stations sampled (l) duration of the procedure, (m) complications, (n) rapid on-site evaluation, (o) nodal size, (p) details of ancillary procedures, (q) needle gauge, (r) sampling adequacy, (s) diagnostic yield, and (t) need for additional procedures such as mediastinoscopy.