| Methods |
Randomised controlled trial (1985 to 1992) |
| Participants |
Individuals with peripheral NSCLC less than 2 cm in diameter & hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes less than 1cm on CT. No pre‐operative mediastinoscopy performed. |
| Interventions |
Intervention group: thoracotomy with lobectomy or bilobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection (n=59) Control: thoracotomy with lobectomy or bilobectomy and mediastinal lymph node sampling |
| Outcomes |
Surgical mortality and morbidity, duration of surgery and blood loss. Overall 3 and 5 year survival, local and distant recurrence rate |
| Notes |
C‐factor staging C4 (after thoracotomy)
Lymph nodes were classified using the scheme of the American Thoracic Society (Martini 1983) |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Adequate sequence generation? |
Low risk |
'Patients were randomly divided into two groups using computer‐generated random numbers’ |
| Allocation concealment? |
Low risk |
Information not reported. After contacting the authors, allocation concealment was reclassified as adequate |
| Blinding?
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
None described |
| Incomplete outcome data addressed?
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Description of withdrawals and losses to follow up adequate (two patients, one in each group, were lost to follow up) |
