Radical vulvectomy and bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy through separate groin incisions

One hundred patients underwent radical vulvectomy and bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy using separate groin incisions. Forty-nine had stage I disease, 37 stage II, and 14 stage III. Corrected actuarial 5-year survival for each stage was 97.4, 86, and 49.2%, respectively. Inguinal lymph nodes were positive in 25% of cases: 10.2% of stage I, 27% of stage II, and 71.4% of stage III cases. Major complications occurred in 21 patients, including major groin breakdown in 14. Thirty patients experienced no acute postoperative morbidity. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 19 days, and mean operative blood loss was 620 ml. No patients developed isolated metastases in either the groin or the inguinal skin bridge, but 2 stage III patients developed simultaneous metastases in the skin bridge and elsewhere. For appropriately selected patients, separate groin incisions for inguinal lymphadenectomy appear to result in lower morbidity than traditional methods, without compromising survival.