title: Predictors of symptomatic lymphocele after radical prostatectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Lymphocele is the most common complication of pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND). We sought to determine predictors of symptomatic lymphocele after radical prostatectomy (RP) and PLND, and in particular, to determine if the number of drains placed represents an independent predictor.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 1999 and June 2007, 4173 consecutive patients underwent bilateral PLND at the time of either open or laparoscopic RP. Lymphoceles were identified in patients undergoing imaging as a result of symptoms suspicious for lymphocele, such as fever, abdominal pain or lower extremity swelling. Routine postoperative imaging was not carried out. Cox proportional hazards analysis was carried out using forced variable entry to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals using the number of drains placed, number of nodes removed, RP approach and use of prophylactic low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) as predictors of symptomatic lymphocele.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 164 patients (4%) with a symptomatic lymphocele on follow up, with a median time to presentation of 19 days. The primary presenting complaints were fever in 47%, abdominal pain in 40%, lower extremity swelling in 37%, genital swelling in 25%, groin pain in 22%, abdominal swelling in 9%, and back and flank pain in 6% and 5%, respectively. Median lymphocele diameter was 5 cm. Significant predictors of symptomatic lymphocele on multivariate analysis included number of nodes removed and use of LMWH, but not number of drains placed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of prophylactic LMWH and a higher node count are predictive of a higher incidence of symptomatic lymphocele after RP and PLND.
authors.affiliation: Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New YorkDepartment of Urology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Geoffrey T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Gotto
authors.forename: Luis Herran
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Yunis
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guillonneau
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Touijer
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Eastham
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Scardino
authors.forename: Farhang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rabbani
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D004322:Drainage; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D008210:Lymphocele / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010388:Pelvis; D011379:Prognosis; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies