Value of level Ⅲ lymph node dissection for breast cancer and its clinical application

Objective: To explore the value of dissection of level Ⅲ lymph nodes for breast cancers and the operation skills.Methods: The Kodama was used to dissect level Ⅰ-Ⅲ axillary lymph nodes of 38 patients with breast cancer and the Auchincloss was used to dissect level Ⅰ-Ⅱ axillary lymph nodes of 40 patients with breast cancer.The postoperative complications were analyzed comparatively.Results: The metastasis rate of level Ⅲ axillary lymph nodes was 25 percent in patients with level Ⅰ-Ⅱ axillary node metastasis.There was no difference in surgical complications(skin flap necrosis,lymph fistula and pectoralis major atrophy) (P>0.05),but the difference was significant in operation time(P<0.01).Conclusions: It is reasonable to dissect level Ⅲ axillary lymph nodes for the patients with levelⅠ-Ⅱ axillary node metastasis.The Kodama is a recommendable method for dissection of level Ⅲ axillary lymph nodes.