Genitofemoral neuropathy after pelvic lymphadenectomy in patients with uterine corpus cancer.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence, etiology, and outcomes of genitofemoral neuropathy after pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLD) for uterine corpus cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The medical records of women who underwent PLD for uterine corpus cancer between June 2001 and June 2013 were reviewed. Information regarding neuropathy was directly reported by each subject.

RESULTS

Thirty-two of 300 patients undergoing PLD during the defined period experienced postoperative neuropathy due to genitofemoral nerve injury, for an incidence of 10.7%. The patients treated with PLD with para-aortic lymphadenectomy (PALD) exhibited a lower rate of genitofemoral neuropathy than those treated without PALD (4.3% vs 13.5%, P = 0.01). The laparoscopy group displayed a higher rate of genitofemoral neuropathy than the laparotomy group (19.1% vs 9.1%, P = 0.04). A total of 81.3% of the patients experienced a full recovery, with a medium time to resolution of 6 months (3-12 months). The administration of adjuvant chemotherapy, including paclitaxel, did not extend the time to recovery.

CONCLUSIONS

Neuropathy resulting from genitofemoral nerve injury is not infrequent; however, most of the patients recover completely. In this study, the use of laparoscopic procedures increased the incidence of genitofemoral neuropathy, whereas that of PALD did not.