The incidence of LN metastasis was 822/870 (94.5%), including 198 cases of unilateral metastasis and 624 cases of bilateral metastasis. Among the 870 patients, the most frequently involved intra-regional lymphatic drainage was level II (89.3%), followed by level VIIa (80.0%), II (59.5%), Va (30.6%), IV (21.3%), Vb (8.9%), and Vc (1.1%). In the extra-regional areas, the detailed LN distribution was: level Ia (0.2%), level Ib (7.7%), level VI (0.1%), level VIIb (5.6%), level VIII (5.5%), level IX (0.3%), and level X (0.2%). The rate of LN metastasis in Station 1, Station 2, and Station 3 was 820/870 (94.3%), 532/870 (61.1%), and 199/870 (22.9%), respectively. Only four patients were considered to be skipping metastasis among the three stations (4/870, 0.5%). Additionally, in 203 patients with unilateral Station 1 LN metastasis, there were 86 (42.4%) and 37 (18.2%) patients with ipsilateral Station 2 and Station 3 metastasis, respectively, and 3 (1.5%) and 1 (0.5%) patients with contralateral Station 2 and Station 3 LN metastasis, respectively.