Short term outcomes of minimally invasive selective lateral pelvic lymph node dissection for low rectal cancer

Table 1 Clinicopathological characteristics of the patients (n = 22)

Sex (n)
Male	18
Female	4
Age (yr, mean, range)	65 (44–81)
ASA grade (%)
1	1 (4.5)
2	19 (86.4)
3	2 (9.1)
Histology (%)
Adenocarcinoma	20 (90.9)
Neuroendocrine	2 (9.1)
Distance from anal verge (cm)	5 (2–7)
BMI (kg/m2, mean, range)	23.4 (14.2–34.3)
Pre-op chemoradiation (%)	18(81.8)
Final TNM stage (%)
I	1 (4.5)
II	4 (18.2)
III	14 (63.6)
IV	1 (4.5)
Pathological complete response	1 (4.5)
Isolated LN recurrence	1 (4.5)
No. of lymph nodes harvested per side (median, range)	10 (3-22)
Patients with positive LPLN metastases on final histology (%)	8 (36.4)
Median size pretreatment LPLN (mm)	10

BMI: Body mass index; LN: Lymph nodes; LPLN: Lateral pelvic lymph nodes.

Table 2 Perioperative variables

Access (%)
Robotic	19 (86.4)
Laparoscopic	3 (13.6)
Type of surgery (%)
Low anterior resection	16 (72.7)
Low anterior resection with intersphincteric resection	2 (9.1)
APR	2 (9.1)
Hartmann’s procedure	1 (4.5)
Isolated LPND	1 (4.5)
Laterality of LPND (%)
Unilateral	18 (81.8)
Bilateral	4 (18.2)
Operative time for LPND (min, median, range)	70 (35-120)
Total blood loss (mL, median, range)	100 (50-500)
Conversion to open surgery (%)	1 (4.5)

LPND: Lateral pelvic lymph node dissection.

Table 3 Post-operative variables

Length of stay (d, median, range)	7.5 (3-76)
Day to removal of urinary catheter (median, range)	3 (1-37)
Complications (%)
Lymphocele requiring drainage	1 (4.5)
Anastomotic leak	1 (4.5)
Follow up duration (mo, median, range)	18(1-36)
Local recurrence during follow up	0

Table 4 Analysis of lymph node size and response to neoadjuvant treatment

No.	Pre-op CRT	Pre-CRT Size(mm)	Post-CRT Size(mm)	LN positivity	Remarks
1	Yes	6	6	No
2	Yes	8	5	No
3	No	7	NA	No	Previous radiation for prostate cancer
4	Yes	8	0	No	Enlarged LPLN resolved after CRT
5	Yes	7/7 (L/R)	4/6 (L/R)	No
6	Yes	11	10	No
7	Yes	8	5	No
8	No	15	NA	Yes	Neuroendocrine tumor
9	Yes	10	8	No
10	Yes	11/8 (L/R)	7/8 (L/R)	Yes	Only the left side was positive for metastases
11	Yes	10	8	Yes
12	No	6	NA	No	Not suitable for CRT in view of performance status and poor social support
13	Yes	5	5	Yes
14	Yes	9	7	No
15	Yes	10	NA	Yes	Isolated LPLN recurrence after TME surgery 1 yr ago
16	No	10	NA	Yes	Neuroendocrine tumor
17	Yes	11	11	No
18	Yes	11	5	No
19	Yes	14	10	Yes
20	Yes	6	6	No
21	Yes	7	7	No
22	Yes	7	6	Yes

CRT: Chemoradiation treatment; LN: Lymph nodes; NA: Not available; LPLN: Lateral pelvic lymph nodes; TME: Total mesorectal excision.