Indocyanine green fluorescence imaging during laparoscopic anterior resection in rectal cancer patients / 中华普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the role of indocyanine green(ICG) fluorescence imaging in laparoscopic anterior resection for rectal cancer.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 7 patients who had undergone laparoscopic anterior resection with the use of ICG fluorescence imaging at Peking University People′s Hospital between Oct 2018 and Mar 2019. The clinicopathological variables, surgical factors, short-term outcome and complications were analyzed.Results:The median operation time was 185 min. The median estimated blood loss was 50 ml. The median time from ICG injection to anastomotic perfusion was 45 s. One patient received extended proximal resection of bowel due to poor perfusion as suggested by ICG imaging. The median time to soft diet was 4 days, and the median hospital stay was 8 days. The median number of lymph nodes harvested was 16. There were no major complications in all these patients. No adverse events related to ICG were recorded.Conclusions:ICG fluorescence imaging was safe and effective in detecting insufficient blood supply around newly established bowel anastomsis, hence potentially reducing the anastomotic leakage rate.