Table 4 Univariate and multivariate analyses for recurrence-free survival of the 250 rectal patients who underwent TME with or without LPND in matching cohort

Gender: male

1.36 (0.81–2.27)

0.244

Age: ≥ 60 years

1.08 (0.66–1.78)

0.751

Preoperative CEA level: > 5 ng/ml

1.70 (1.02–2.83)

0.043

1.55 (0.92–2.61)

0.097

Histology: other

1.44 (0.87–2.39)

0.155

Lymphatic invasion: yes

1.55 (0.92–2.62)

0.103

Perineural invasion: yes

1.75 (1.06–2.86)

0.027

1.53 (0.85–2.76)

0.157

T stage: T3–4

1.63 (0.87–3.06)

0.130

Status of LN metastasis

 N0

Reference

Reference

 Mesorectal-LN

1.82 (1.01–3.26)

0.045

1.95 (1.10–3.60)

0.044

 LPN

4.06 (1.79–9.20)

0.001

3.03 (1.23–7.47)

0.016

LPND: yes

1.32 (0.80–2.17)

0.269

Adjuvant chemotherapy: yes

0.94 (0.56–1.58)

0.812

Postoperative complications: yes

1.09 (0.56–2.15)

0.799