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.