Table 1 Clinical and pathological characteristics of rectal cancer patients who underwent TME with or without LPND before and after matching

Gender

0.493

0.798

 Male

195 (53.9)

74 (57.3)

71 (56.8)

73 (58.4)

 Female

167 (44.1)

55 (42.7)

54 (43.2)

52 (41.6)

Age (years)

0.869

0.899

 < 60

199 (55.0)

72 (55.8)

68 (54.4)

69 (55.2)

 ≥ 60

163 (45.0)

57 (44.2)

57 (45.6)

56 (44.8)

BMI (kg/m²)

24.0 ± 3.1

24.9 ± 3.2

0.081

24.5 ± 3.1

25.0 ± 3.1

0.226

ASA score

0.784

0.625

 I–II

337 (93.1)

121 (93.8)

115 (92.0)

117 (91.4)

 III

25 (6.9)

8 (6.2)

10 (8.0)

8 (8.6)

Neoadjuvant therapy

0.284

0.613

 Yes

157 (43.4)

63 (48.8)

66 (52.8)

62 (49.6)

 No

205 (56.6)

66 (51.2)

59 (47.2)

63 (50.4)

Distance from anal verge (cm)

5.5 ± 1.4

5.1 ± 1.4

0.339

5.4 ± 1.5

5.1 ± 1.4

0.452

Histological type

0.025

0.172

 Well/moderate

290 (80.1)

91 (70.5)

81 (64.8)

91 (72.8)

 Poor/mucinous/signet

72 (19.9)

38 (29.5)

44 (35.2)

34 (27.2)

Pathological T stage

0.302

0.506

 T1–T2

71 (19.6)

20 (15.5)

24 (19.2)

20 (16.0)

 T3–T4

291 (80.4)

109 (84.5)

101 (80.8)

105 (84)

Mesorectal LN

< 0.001

0.855

 N0

151 (41.7)

31 (24.0)

25 (20.0)

28 (22.4)

 N1

149 (41.2)

60 (46.5)

63 (50.4)

59 (47.2)

 N2

62 (17.1)

38 (30.4)

37 (29.6)

38 (30.4)

LPN metastasis

–

 Presence

–

26 (20.2)

–

25 (20.0)

 Absence

–

103 (79.8)

–

100 (80.0)

Surgical approach

0.402

0.684

 Open

21 (5.8)

5 (3.9)

2 (1.6)

4 (3.2)

 Laparoscopic

341 (94.2)

124 (96.1)

123 (98.4)

121 (96.8)

Lymphatic invasion

78 (21.5)

37 (28.7)

0.100

35 (28.0)

34 (27.2)

0.887

Perineural invasion

92 (25.4)

47 (36.4)

0.017

48 (38.4)

45 (36.0)

0.665

Adjuvant therapy

126 (34.8)

82 (63.6)

< 0.001

83 (66.4)

80 (64.0)

0.690