Table 1. Patient and treatment-related characteristics.
| Characteristics | Total (N=324, 100%) | RLNP+ (N=44, 13.6%) | RLNP− (N=280, 86.4%) | P value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | ||||
| Gender | 0.817 | ||||||||
| Female | 91 | 28.1% | 13 | 29.5% | 78 | 27.9% | |||
| Male | 233 | 71.9% | 31 | 70.5% | 202 | 72.1% | |||
| Age (years) | 64.5 | ±8.53 | 63.5 | ±8.93 | 65.0 | ±8.48 | 0.523 | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.0 | ±4.42 | 25.1 | ±3.86 | 25.0 | ±4.50 | 0.864 | ||
| ASA score | 0.861 | ||||||||
| I | 83 | 25.6% | 13 | 29.5% | 70 | 25.0% | |||
| II | 199 | 61.4% | 24 | 54.5% | 175 | 62.5% | |||
| III | 42 | 13.0% | 7 | 15.9% | 35 | 12.5% | |||
| Pulmonary comorbidity | 0.978 | ||||||||
| No | 272 | 84.0% | 37 | 84.1% | 235 | 83.9% | |||
| Yes | 52 | 16.0% | 7 | 15.9% | 45 | 16.1% | |||
| Cardiac comorbidity | 0.018 | ||||||||
| No | 259 | 79.9% | 41 | 93.2% | 218 | 77.9% | |||
| Yes | 65 | 20.1% | 3 | 6.8% | 62 | 22.1% | |||
| Vascular comorbidity | 0.090 | ||||||||
| No | 247 | 76.2% | 38 | 86.4% | 209 | 74.6% | |||
| Yes | 77 | 23.8% | 6 | 13.6% | 71 | 25.4% | |||
| Diabetes mellitus | 0.480 | ||||||||
| No | 284 | 87.7% | 40 | 90.9% | 244 | 87.1% | |||
| Yes | 40 | 12.3% | 4 | 9.1% | 36 | 12.9% | |||
| Neoadjuvant treatment | 0.328 | ||||||||
| No | 95 | 29.3% | 15 | 34.1% | 80 | 28.6% | |||
| Chemotherapy | 85 | 26.2% | 14 | 31.8% | 71 | 25.4% | |||
| Chemoradiotherapy | 144 | 44.4% | 15 | 34.1% | 129 | 46.1% | |||
| Approach | 0.101 | ||||||||
| Open | 58 | 17.9% | 4 | 9.1% | 54 | 19.3% | |||
| Minimally invasive | 266 | 82.1% | 40 | 90.9% | 226 | 80.7% | |||
| Location of tumor | 0.709 | ||||||||
| Proximal | 12 | 3.7% | 1 | 2.3% | 11 | 3.9% | |||
| Middle | 53 | 16.4% | 9 | 20.5% | 44 | 15.7% | |||
| Distal | 122 | 37.8% | 14 | 31.8% | 108 | 38.6% | |||
| GEJ | 137 | 42.3% | 20 | 45.5% | 117 | 41.8% | |||
| Histology | 0.203 | ||||||||
| ADC | 227 | 69.8% | 33 | 75.0% | 194 | 69.3% | |||
| SCC | 95 | 29.0% | 10 | 22.7% | 85 | 30.4% | |||
| Other | 2 | 0.6% | 1 | 2.3% | 1 | 0.3% | |||
| pT stage | 0.044 | ||||||||
| T0 | 59 | 18.2% | 4 | 9.1% | 55 | 19.6% | |||
| T1 | 43 | 13.3% | 5 | 11.4% | 38 | 13.6% | |||
| T2 | 45 | 13.9% | 5 | 11.4% | 40 | 14.3% | |||
| T3 | 165 | 50.9% | 28 | 63.6% | 137 | 48.9% | |||
| T4 | 12 | 3.7% | 2 | 4.5% | 10 | 3.6% | |||
| pN stage | 0.233 | ||||||||
| N0 | 154 | 47.6% | 16 | 36.4% | 137 | 48.9% | |||
| N1 | 85 | 26.2% | 16 | 36.4% | 69 | 24.6% | |||
| N2 | 58 | 17.9% | 7 | 15.9% | 51 | 18.2% | |||
| N3 | 27 | 8.3% | 5 | 11.4% | 23 | 8.3% | |||
| Lymph node yield* | <0.001 | ||||||||
| Median, range | 22 | 6–57 | 24.5 | 7–57 | 22.0 | 6–53 | |||
| Radical resection | 0.205 | ||||||||
| Yes | 296 | 91.4% | 38 | 86.4% | 258 | 92.1% | |||
| No | 28 | 8.6% | 6 | 13.6% | 22 | 7.9% | |||
Data are n (%), median (range) and mean (± SD). *, skewed distribution, Mann-Whitney test applied. RLNP, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy; BMI, body mass index; ASA score, American Society of Anesthesiologists Score; ADC, adenocarcinoma; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma.