Operative safety and oncologic outcomes in rectal cancer based on the level of inferior mesenteric artery ligation: a stratified analysis of a large Korean cohort.

Low IMA ligation with dissection of LNs around the IMA origin showed no differences in anastomotic leakage rate compared with high IMA ligation, without affecting oncologic outcomes. High IMA ligation did not seem to increase the number of total harvested LNs, whereas the ratio of metastatic apical LNs were similar between groups.