Lymph node pick up by separate stations: Option or necessity?

Table 1 Patient characteristics n (%)

	All patients(n = 1112)	Group A(n = 401)	Group B(n = 711)	P
Gender
Female	448 (40.29)	144 (35.91)	304 (42.76)	0.0254
Male	664 (59.71)	257 (64.09)	407 (57.24)
Age (yr)
≤ 75	621 (55.85)	176 (43.89)	445 (62.59)	< 0.0001
> 75	491 (44.15)	225 (56.11)	266 (37.41)
Charlson score
0	869 (78.15)	312 (77.80)	557 (78.34)	0.5067
1	195 (17.54)	68 (16.96)	127 (17.86)
≥ 2	48 (4.32)	21 (5.24)	27 (3.80)
Procedure
Partial gastrectomy	674 (60.61)	257 (64.09)	417 (58.65)	0.0746
Total gastrectomy	438 (39.39)	144 (35.91)	294 (41.35)
Lymph nodes
N0	426 (38.45)	72 (43.22)	254 (35.77)	0.0126
N1	176 (15.88)	67 (16.83)	109 (15.35)
N2	180 (16.25)	65 (16.33)	115 (16.20)
N3a	200 (18.05)	63 (15.83)	137 (19.30)
N3b	126 (11.37)	31 (7.79)	95 (13.38)
Missing	4	3	1
No. lymph nodes removed
< 16	389 (34.98)	250 (62.34)	139 (19.55)	< 0.0001
≥ 16	723 (65.02)	151 (37.66)	572 (80.45)
T
T1	232 (20.86)	80 (19.95)	152 (21.38)	0.008
T2	162 (14.57)	59 (14.71)	103 (14.49)
T3	317 (28.51)	94 (23.44)	223 (31.36)
T4	401 (36.06)	168 (41.90)	233 (32.77)
Margin		25	156
Infiltrated	76 (8.16)	28 (7.45)	48 (8.65)	0.5111
Not infiltrated	855 (91.84)	348 (92.55)	507 (91.35)
Missing	181
Lauren classification
Intestinal	807 (74.24)	291 (75.58)	516 (73.50)	0.4532
Diffuse/mixed	280 (25.76)	94 (24.42)	186 (26.50)
Missing	25	16	9