What is the number of lymph nodes required for an "adequate" pelvic lymphadenectomy?
OBJECTIVE
To establish a definition of an adequate number of lymph nodes identified at a pelvic lymphadenectomy through statistical methods.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective study in cervical and endometrial carcinoma patients who underwent radical or staging surgery. The Student's t-test, Pearson's correlation, analysis of variance, and linear regression analysis were used.


RESULTS
Five hundred and ninety four-sided pelvic lymphadenectomies were analyzed. The mean (range) number of pelvic lymph nodes identifed was 11.3 (0-42). The 1st, 5th and 10th percentiles were three, five, and six lymph nodes respectively. The number of lymph nodes was higher in the laparoscopic approach compared to laparotomy (11.9 vs 10.6, p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The number of lymph nodes identified at a pelvic lymphadencetomy vary with type of surgery. We propose that using the 1st, 5th or 10th percentile is reasonable for the definition of an adequate number of lymph nodes to be identified at a pelvic lymphadenectomy.
Nijman
H W
HW
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Science Center, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Khalifa
M
M
Covens
A
A
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008499:Medical Records; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D010388:Pelvis; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*