Fascia- vs vessel-oriented lateral lymph node dissection for rectal cancer: Short-term outcomes and prognosis in a single-center experience

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the entire cohort (n = 105)

Variables	Fascia-oriented group (n = 41)	Vessel-oriented group (n = 64)	P value
Age (yr), median (IQR)	58.0 (48.0, 65.0)	58.5 (47.0, 65.0)	0.908
Sex, n (%)			0.728
Male	21 (51.2)	35 (54.7)
Female	20 (48.8)	29 (45.3)
BMI (kg/m2), median (IQR)	24.8 (21.6, 27.8)	24.2 (21.3, 27.5)	0.510
Distance to tumour from AV (cm), median (IQR)	4.0 (3.0, 7.0)	4.0 (3.0, 5.0)	0.358
Pathological type, n (%)			0.837
Adenocarcinoma	40 (97.6)	62 (96.9)
Non-adenocarcinoma	1 (2.4)	2 (3.1)
Preoperative radiotherapy, n (%)			0.356
Yes	10 (24.4)	21 (32.8)
No	31 (75.6)	43 (67.2)
Preoperative chemotherapy, n (%)			0.698
Yes	17 (41.5)	29 (45.3)
No	24 (58.5)	35 (54.7)
Surgical procedure, n (%)			0.371
Laparoscopic surgery	40 (97.6)	60 (93.8)
Conversion to open surgery	1 (2.4)	4 (6.2)
Surgical approach, n (%)			0.571
Dixon	23 (56.1)	31 (48.4)
Miles	18 (43.9)	32 (50.0)
Parks	0 (0)	1 (1.6)
LLND, n (%)			0.137
Unilateral dissection	33 (80.5)	43 (67.2)
Bilateral dissection	8 (19.5)	21 (32.8)
Pathological tumor stagea, n (%)			0.808
0-I	6 (14.6)	10 (15.6)
II	7 (17.1)	8 (12.5)
III	28 (68.3)	46 (71.9)
Adjuvant therapy, n (%)			0.544
Yes	32 (78.0)	53 (82.8)
No	9 (22.0)	11 (17.2)

^aThe eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM staging system.

IQR: Interquartile range; BMI: Body mass index; AV: Anal verge; LLND: Lateral lymph node dissection.