RESUMO
Objective:To investigate the effect of 253 lymph node dissection on postoperative recovery and prognosis of rectal cancer patients in different stages undergoing radical resection.Methods:A total of 232 rectal cancer patients undergoing radical resection in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 2013 and December 2014 were enrolled and divided into the 253 lymph node dissection group(all cases underwent surgery in 2014)and the non-dissection group(all cases underwent surgery in 2013). Differences in age, sex, tumor differentiation and depth of invasion was analyzed between the two groups.Based on clinicopathological data, each group was further divided into three subgroups(Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ). Postoperative recovery assessment included the time of the earliest flatulence, the time of first feeding, the duration of hospitalization and anastomotic leakage.In addition, postoperative survival parameters were also analyzed.Results:Compared with non-dissection group, patients in the 253 lymph node dissection group had similar overall postoperative recovery and rates of complications( P>0.05), but significantly longer survival( P=0.012). Besides, 253 lymph node dissection had a beneficial effect on prognosis for those in the stage Ⅲ subgroup( P=0.039), and did not affect the prognosis for those in the stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ subgroups( P>0.05). Conclusions:For rectal cancer patients undergoing radical resection, 253 lymph node dissection does not affect postoperative recovery, but offers improved prognosis for stage Ⅲ patients.We should perform 253 lymph node dissections on all rectal cancer patients when the clinicopathological staging is unknown.