Impact of the preservation of the intercostobrachial nerve in axillary lymphadenectomy due to breast cancer / 国际外科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between preservation of the intercostobrachial(ICB) nerve and abnormal sensation of the arm,the total time of the surgery,and the number of dissected nodes in patients submitted to axillary lymphadenectomy in surgical treatment of breast cancer.Methods An prospective,randomized,and double blind intervention was performed on 85 patients at the Qinhuangdao Military Hospital in Hebei Province from July 2007 to August 2010.The patients according to whether the ICB nerve was preserved or not were randomly divided into two groups.The surgeries were performed by the same two surgeons.The postoperative evaluations were performed at 2 days,30 days,and 90 days.The abnormal sensation of the arm was subjectively evaluated with an questionnaire and objectively assessed with a neurologic examination.Results In the never preserved group,questionnaire found asymptomatic patients' proportion is up to 16/42,19/41,25/41 after 2 d,30 d and 90 d respectively; while in the resection group the result is 12/43,7/43,12/42.In the never preserved group,neurologic examination reported asymptomatic patients' proportion is up to 22/42,16/41,22/41 after 2 d,30 d and 90 d respectively; while in the resection group the result is 5/43,3/43,7/42.The results suggests that the abnormal sensation propotion in the intercostobrachial nerve preserved group is significantly less than the control group at the three above time points over (P ＜ 0.05).No significant difference was observed on the total time of the surgery and the number of dissected nodes between the two groups.During the 36 months follow up,no local relapse was found in the two groups.Conclusions The research support that the preservation of the ICB nerve is feasible and can lead to a significant decrease in the alteration of abnormal sensation of the arm,without interfering with the total time of the surgery,the number of dissected nodes,and local relapse rate.