ObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate the utilization and impact of surgical para-aortic lymph node staging on the survival of patients with locally advanced stage cervical carcinoma receiving definitive chemoradiation.MethodsWe identified patients in the National Cancer Database diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2015 with locally advanced (FIGO 2009 stage IB2-IVA) cervical carcinoma who did not undergo hysterectomy, received primary chemoradiation and had at least 1 month of follow-up. Two groups of patients were formed based on the assessment method of para-aortic lymph node status – radiologic assessment only versus surgical lymphadenectomy. Overall survival was compared with the log-rank test after Kaplan-Meier curves were generated. A Cox model was constructed to control for a priori selected confounders.ResultsWe identified a total of 3540 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Para-aortic staging was performed in 333 (9.4%) patients. These patients were younger (median age 46 vs 52 years, pConclusionsIn a large cohort of patients with locally advanced stage cervical carcinoma, para-aortic lymphadenectomy was rarely performed and not associated with a survival benefit.