Purpose: Harvesting at least 12 lymph nodes (LNs) is recommended for adequate tumor staging in colon surgery. Although preoperative endoscopic tattooing has been used for primary localization of tumors, its impact on LN retrieval in colorectal surgery remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the relationship between preoperative tattooing and LN retrieval after laparoscopic rectal resection. Methods: We reviewed the records of 92 patients with rectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic resection from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019. Patients were categorized into 2 groups according to whether preoperative endoscopic tattooing was performed. The rate of adequate LN retrieval (≥12) was compared. Results: The tattooed and non-tattooed groups comprised 49 and 43 patients, respectively. In the tattooed and non-tattooed groups, the rates of adequate LN retrieval were 75.5% and 55.8%, respectively (P=0.046). Univariate analysis revealed that female sex, tattooing, LN metastasis status, pathological pathological stage (p-stage), and LN dissection were predictive factors for adequate LN retrieval. In the multivariate analysis, female sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15–9.73; P=0.027), tattooing (OR, 2.87; 95% CI, 1.03–7.94; P=0.043), and p-stage (OR, 3.34; 95% CI, 1.04–10.75; P=0.043) were independent predictive factors for adequate LN retrieval after surgery. Conclusion This study revealed that preoperative endoscopic tattooing was statistically significantly associated with adequate LN retrieval in patients with rectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic rectal resection. Preoperative endoscopic tattooing should be considered to improve disease assessment and avoid stage migration.

To investigate the effectiveness of Maobushisaishin-to (traditional Japanese herbal medicine; Tsumura TJ-127) in treating the common cold, a clinical comparison between Maobushisaishin-to and a general common cold drug was conducted using the sealed envelope method. The study involved 83 patients in the TJ-127 group and 88 patients in the general cold drug group. No differences in age, gender or the period from the onset of the disease to the beginning of treatment were observed between the two groups.
The results indicated greater than moderate improvement in 81.9% of the TJ-127 group, compared with 60.3% of the compound cold drug group (p<0.01). Further analysis of symptom diaries kept by the patients indicated that TJ-127 provided more rapid relief for symptoms such as fever, feeling feverish, coughing and phlegm than did the general cold drug. No side effects were observed for the TJ-127. These results suggest that TJ-127 is effective in the treatment of the common cold.