Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised trials, cohort studies and descriptive studies (including more than 100 patients), which provided survival analysis in some form.
Specific interventions included in the review
Post-operative follow-up using a variety of methods:history-taking and physical examination, liver function testing, carcinoembryonic antigen determination, colonoscopy or double-contrast barium enema, chest radiography, computed tomography scanning. The intensity of surveillance varied.
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
The review did not include any diagnostic accuracy studies that compared the performance of the index test with a reference standard of diagnosis.
Participants included in the review
Patients who have undergone curative resection for colorectal carcinoma were included.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The increase in length of survival was assessed.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors do not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many of the authors performed the selection.