Fig. 4

The graph illustrates that the number of lymph nodes dissected, the rate of lymph leakage, and the rate of lymph leakage per lymph node dissected exhibit variability in response to changes in operator experience

(A) Box plots show significant differences in the number of lymph nodes dissected by surgeons with different surgical experience. The number of lymph nodes removed was significantly lower in surgeons with 20 to 30 procedures than in those with 56 (p = 0.005) and 83 (p < 0.001) procedures. The number of lymph nodes dissected was significantly lower in surgeons with 40 operations than in those with 56 (p = 0.0001) and 83 (p < 0.001) operations. The number of lymph nodes dissected was significantly lower in the operators with 51 surgical experience than in the operators with 83 (p = 0.0007) surgical experience. The number of lymph nodes dissected was significantly lower in the operators with 56 surgical experience than in the operators with 167 (p = 0.041) surgical experience. (B) With the increase of experience of the surgeon, the proportion of lymphatic leakage decreases. There was no significant correlation between the surgeon’s experience and the rate of lymphatic leakage (P = 0.273,R=-0.273). (C) With the increase of surgeon experience, the proportion of lymph leakage in the average lymph node dissected decreased. There was no significant correlation between the surgeon’s experience and the lymph leakage rate of the average lymph node dissected (P = 0.571,R=-0.143)

Note: * : a significance level of p < 0.05, ** a significance level of p < 0.01, and *** a significance level of p < 0.001