RESUMO
PURPOSE: Evaluation of diagnostic value for lymph node (LN) metastasis and LN identification using indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence in laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. METHODS: A prospective study on 79 patients who underwent radical subtotal gastrectomy with the use of ICG-guided LN dissection. The sensitivity and specificity of the ICG fluorescence lymphography method in detecting metastatic LNs were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 79 patients underwent surgery. The number of LNs was retrieved: 2992 LNs, of which 2392 were fluorescent (79.9%) and 600 were nonfluorescent (20.1%). The average number of LNs dissected was 37.7 ± 11.8 LNs, and the average number of fluorescent LNs was 30.3 ± 11.1; the LN metastasis rates in the total LNs and in the ICG group were 6.79% and 7.34%, respectively. The median number of retrieved LNs in patients with LN metastases (37 [IQR, 33-47]) was higher than in patients without LN metastases (36 [IQR, 27-43]), (P = .348). The median number of fluorescent LNs was significantly higher in patients with LN metastases (32 [IQR, 26-44]) than in those without LN metastases (26 [IQR, 21-36]; P < .001). The sensitivity of ICG in metastasis detection was 75.86% (22 of 29 patients), with a false-negative rate of 24.14% (7 of 29 patients). For the identification of metastatic LNs, the sensitivity of ICG was 90.7%, with the specificity of 20.8%. The negative predictive value of nonfluorescent LNs was 97%. CONCLUSION: ICG fluorescence lymphography-guided lymphadenectomy can clearly visualize the lymphatic system and the LNs alongside the tumor. The high sensitivity in detecting metastatic LNs and the high negative predictive value of a nonfluorescent LNs suggest that this is an effective method for clinically radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer.