Table 4.

Comparison of lymph node sampling rates according to pathological T stage (Including Tis, T1-T4)

		LNS rates		P value1	χ2
		Open (n = 324)	MIE (n = 123)
Upper mediastinum	R-RLN	262	100	0.916	0.011
	L-RLN	260	54	< 0.001	56.345
	Upper para-esophagus	272	102	0.794	0.068
Subcarinal and parabronchial	Subcarinal	307	112	0.150	2.074
	Left and right parabronchial	310	120	0.353	0.863
Mid and low para-esophagus and diaphragm	Mid and lower para-esophagus	299	110	0.334	0.933
	Diaphragm	128	46	0.683	0.167
Intraperitoneal	Para-cardial	310	116	0.541	0.374
	Lesser gastric curvature	275	105	0.897	0.017
	Left gastric artery	272	106	0.560	0.339

¹The χ² test. LNS rates = number of patients undergoing lymph node sampling/number of total patients. LNS: Lymph node sampling; RLN: Recurrent laryngeal nerve; MIE: Minimally invasive esophagectomy.