title: [Association between number of lymphadenectomy and postoperative complication in surgery for esophageal carcinoma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between the number of lymph nodes retrieval and the incidence of postoperative complications in patients with esophageal carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2008 to December 2009, 794 patients with esophageal carcinoma underwent esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University. The clinical data, surgeons, the extent of lymphadenectomy and its association with operative morbidity were retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no operative death. A total of 84 patients with complication(10.6%) were documented. There were 11,770 lymph nodes harvested in total with an average of 14.8. Multivariate logistic regression showed that gender, number of metastatic lymph nodes, level of anastomosis, and surgeons' experience were risk factors associated with postoperative complications (all P<0.05), while the number and group of lymph node resection were not(all P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Within a rational range of lymphadenectomy(<50) following esophagectomy, the postoperative complications are significantly associated with the gender, extent of regional lymph nodes metastasis, site of anastomosis and the expertise of the surgeons, but not associated with the number and group of lymph nodes resection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qi-rong
authors.initials: QR
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wen-ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kang-ning
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhen-jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Long-qi
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors