A novel approach for inguinal lymph node dissection without inguinal skin incision for invasive extramammary Paget...

Inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND) for skin cancer is associated with a high incidence of wound complications. The traditional skin approaches are associated with a high risk of wound/flap necrosis of the inguinal skin, which leads to wound dehiscence and wound infection. We report a novel approach for ILND without inguinal skin incision for patients with invasive extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) to minimize the wound complications inherent in conventional ILND. We totally performed this procedure in 3 patients with invasive EMPD with inguinal nodal metastases. No patient had complications, including flap necrosis, wound dehiscence, or wound infection. Our novel surgical approach would retain the vascular supply because there was no inguinal skin incision, preventing postoperative wound complications. In addition, ILND was easily performed with satisfactory exposure of the surgical field. However, the number of patients was small and the follow-up period was short. Further evaluation of a larger case series with longer follow-up is essential to investigate the effect, safety, and indications for this novel approach.