Three classes of pelvic and aortic lymphadenectomy in patients with cervical cancer

Currently, the extent of pelvic and aortic lymphadenectomy is currently described by numerous and ambiguous terms. The aim of this study is to present a classification of pelvic and aortic lymphadenectomy in cervical cancer patients. On the base of the data from the literature, pelvic and aortic lymphadenectomies have been assigned to three different classes, depending on surgical technique, the extent of the lymphadenectomy and the specificity of the removed lymph node groups. Class I equals removal of selected lymph nodes; Class II: removal of lymph nodes situated ventrally and laterally to large extraperitoneal vessels and the obturator nerve and of lymph nodes situated ventrally and laterally to the aorta and vena cava; Class III: total removal of lymphatic tissue around the iliac vessels and from the obturator fossa dorsally to the obturator nerve and from the presacral region and lymphatic tissue around the aorta and vena cava. The presented classification allows for a unequivocal assessment of pelvic and aortic lymphadenectomy.