The purpose of the present study was to compare postoperative complications and recurrence rates in 132 women with invasive vulvar carcinoma treated by radical vulvectomy and bilateral groin lymphadenectomy performed with one or three incisions. It was a nonrandomized retrospective clinical study, including 65 women operated using a single incision and 67 with three incisions, between 1986 and 1996. Fischer's, chi-square, Student's t tests followed by logistic regression were used for statistical analysis as well as survival curves by the Kaplan-Meyer method, compared using Wilcoxon test, followed by Cox regression, with the statistical significance limit of 5%. The groups were similar regarding age, smoking, presence of other diseases, histologic type and grade. Pathologic stage III was significantly more frequent in the single incision group, while free lymph nodes were more frequent in the three-incision group. The patients treated with triple incision showed statistically less frequent immediate complications (76% vs 92%, p<0.05), less dehiscence (72% vs 92%, p<0.01), and shorter mean hospital stay (19.4 days vs 38.7 days, p<0.001) and secondary procedures were less necessary (76% vs 94%, p<0.01). Seven postoperative deaths were observed: five with single incision and two with triple incision. Recurrence rate was statistically lower in patients treated with triple incision (19% vs 35%, p<0.01) and with negative lymph nodes (6% vs 15%, p<0.01). After Cox regression, only positive lymph nodes had negative influence on disease-free survival. We concluded that vulvectomy using three incisions shows less complications than single incision, without compromising therapeutic efficacy, independently of the stage of the disease.
vulvar carcinoma; Surgical complication; Surgical infection
