Background: It has previously reported that harvested lymph-node count may be influenced by various factors that may be surgeon-, instutition-, or patient-dependent. Objective: The goal of this research was to investigate the effect of surgical experience on the number of lymph nodes harvested at laparotomy for endometrial- and ovarian-cancer staging. Materials and Methods: The current authors retrospectively reviewed 70 patients with endometrial and ovarian cancer who underwent transperitoneal laparotomy and lymphadenectomy by the same surgeon as a part of staging surgery at the Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University School of Medicine, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Data were extracted from instutional medical records. Results: The mean number of pelvic lymph nodes was 20.7 (8–47) and the mean number of para-aortic lymph nodes was 13.6 (1–67). No statistical difference was noted between corpus and ovarian cancers in terms of mean node counts. The retrieved pelvic, para-aortic, and total numbers of lymph nodes increased during the study period (p=0.000). There was no statistical difference in the ability to detect lymph-node metastasis throughout the study period (p=0.106). Although operative time was increased during the study period, from a mean of 260–299 minutes (p=0.012), the total lymph-node count showed a more significant increase (p=0.000). When operation time was proportioned to total lymph-node count, there was a decrease in unit operative time (p=0.000). Length of hospital stay did not change throughout the study period, with a mean of 4.8 days (p=0.773). Intraoperative minor vascular injuries requiring suture placement occurred in 12% of the patients, and 2 (2.8%) patients required relaparotomy because of postoperative hemorrhage from the site of lymphatic dissection. Conclusions: This study suggests that surgical experience effects operative time and harvested lymph node-count with a higher impact on para-aortic lymphadenectomy. However, extensive lymph-node dissection did not yield an increased detection rate of lymph-node metastasis in this study population. (J GYNECOL SURG 31:1)
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