Laparoscopic sentinel lymph node mapping and excision of the rectum using a radioactive tracer — a prospective experimental study
Introduction: Patients with a low risk T1 rectal carcinoma can undergo the therapy of a local excision. In these patients the lymph node status remains unknown. There is a potential risk of up to 7% for nodal metastasis, in high risk cases it can rise up to 35%. To investigate the possibility of using the Sentinel lymph node (SLN) concept, which is anchored in the therapy of malignant melanoma and breast cancer, an experimental study on pigs was undertaken. The objective of the study was to laparoscopically identify and extract SLN’s from the rectum using a radioactive tracer (RT). Material und Methods: The experiment was conducted upon 30 pigs, because sample size calculation indicated tha…