Table 3.
Postoperative complications
| Variables | All patients (n = 184, %) | p-value | LRLN lymph node dissection (n = 110, %) | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAME (n = 75) | RAME (n = 109) | VAME (n = 40) | Early RAME (n = 43) | Last RAME (n = 27) | |||
| Overall complications | 20 (26.7) | 36 (33.0) | 0.357 | 14 (35.0) | 15 (34.9) | 11 (40.7) | 0.862 |
| RLN paralysis | 11 (14.7) | 16 (14.7) | 0.998 | 9 (22.5) | 12 (27.9) | 2 (7.4) | 0.106* |
| Pulmonary infection | 9 (12.0) | 7 (6.4) | 0.187 | 7 (17.5) | 4 (9.3) | 1 (3.7) | 0.225 |
| Ventilator-assisted ventilation | 8 (10.7) | 8 (7.3) | 0.431 | 6 (15.0) | 3 (7.0) | 2 (7.0) | 0.476 |
| Anastomotic leakages | 4 (5.3) | 6 (5.5) | 1.000 | 1 (2.5) | 1 (2.3) | 3 (11.1) | 0.295 |
| Tracheoesophageal fistula | 0 (0) | 3 (2.8) | 0.272 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.245 |
| Pleural effusion | 0 (0) | 3 (2.8) | 0.272 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.245 |
| Atelectasis | 2 (2.7) | 1 (0.9) | 0.568 | 2 (5.0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.349 |
| Surgical site infections | 0 (0) | 2 (1.8) | 0.514 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.245 |
| Chylothorax | 1 (1.3) | 1 (0.9) | 1.000 | 1 (2.5) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.519 |
| Arrhythmia | 0 (0) | 2 (1.8) | 0.514 | 0 (0) | 1 (2.3) | 0 (0) | 1.000 |
| Stroke | 0 (0) | 1 (0.9) | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| ARF | 0 (0) | 1 (0.9) | 1.000 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.245 |
| Chest infection | 0 (0) | 1 (0.9) | 1.000 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) | 0.245 |
LRLN left recurrent laryngeal nerve, ARF acute renal failure
*p = 0.037 between early and last RAME group