Outcomes
| Standard LND strategy | Selective LND strategy | Increment | |
| Short-term | |||
| Percentage of LNDs (95% CI) | 100 (100 to 100) | 35.4 (29.7 to 41.5) | −64.6 (−70.3 to −58.5) |
| Percentage of patients with residual LN metastases (95% CI) | 1.9 (0.9 to 3.3) | 2.5 (1.9 to 3.1) | 0.6 (−0.7 to 1.6) |
| Percentage of pneumonias (95% CI) | 52.3 (50.2 to 54.4) | 41.7 (21.8 to 53.9) | −10.6 (−30.4 to 0) |
| Percentage of chyle leakages (95% CI) | 12.3 (11.0 to 13.7) | 7.4 (3.9 to 13.8) | −4.9 (−8.6 to 1.1) |
| Percentage of laryngeal nerve paresis (95% CI) | 9.1 (7.9 to 10.4) | 6.4 (2.9 to 10.9) | −2.8 (−6.3 to 1.5) |
| Long-term | |||
| Survival, years (95% CI) | 8.19 (6.86 to 9.67) | 8.16 (6.83 to 9.65) | −0.03 (−0.08 to 0.03) |
| QALYs (95% CI) | 6.44 (5.35 to 7.68) | 6.42 (5.34 to 7.67) | −0.02 (−0.06 to 0.03) |
LN, lymph node; LND, lymph node dissection; QALYs, quality-adjusted life years.