Objective. A meta-analysis was conducted on the effect of pituitary adenoma resection on pituitary function.

Methods. The Cochrane Library, Ovid, PubMed, the Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Databases (CBM) were searched to find trials about the evaluation of pituitary target glands before and after pituitary adenoma resection. The databases were searched from the earliest available trials until the end of September 2019. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, two researchers independently selected literature, extracted data, and evaluated the quality of the studies, and then used Revman 5.2 software to conduct a meta-analysis.

Results. Eleven clinical trials were included, with a total of 3,237 subjects. Meta-analysis showed that the number of patients with hypofunction of the thyroid and gonadal axes substantially decreased after pituitary tumour resection, and that the difference was statistically significant: odds ratio (OR) = 1.72 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.18–2.52; P = 0.005] and OR = 2.06 (95% CI, 1.42–3.00; P = 0.0002). The number of patients with a poor total suprarenal gland axis after pituitary tumour resection did not change significantly compared to the number found before the operation; the difference was not statistically significant: OR = 1.04 (95% CI, 0.72–1.48; P = 0.85). However, the number of patients who had adrenal axis dysfunction both before and after the operation was significantly reduced, and the difference was statistically significant: OR = 1.46 (95% CI, 1.21–1.78; P = 0.0001).

Conclusion. The function of the thyroid and gonadal axes of pituitary gland tumour patients can be improved, to some extent, after pituitary tumour resection. Patients with pituitary tumours who have hypofunction of the adrenal axis can recover effectively after tumour resection.