Videoscopic inguinal lymphadenectomy in malignant melanoma: safe in pregnancy?

Lymphadenectomy is the standard of care for metastatic melanoma in the inguinal lymph node basin. Historically, open surgery was the only treatment option. However, in recent years, videoscopic inguinal lymphadenectomy (VIL) has become a popular approach as it offers a minimally invasive alternative, provides similar oncologic control and reduces wound complications. Even though the VIL approach is being used more frequently, the patient populations that stand to benefit the most from this approach are still under investigation. Despite continued advances in safety for laparoscopic surgery, many surgeons are hesitant to perform these procedures on pregnant women. In this report, we present a successful VIL in a pregnant patient, describe our technique and demonstrate the safety of performing VIL in expectant mothers. To our knowledge, this case represents the first VIL performed in an expectant mother.