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Effect of Indocyanine Green-Guided Lymphadenectomy During Gastrectomy on Survival: Individual Patient Data
Matteo Calì1, Alberto Aiolfi1, Sho Sato2
1I.R.C.C.S. Ospedale Galeazzi-Sant'Ambrogio, Division of General Surgery, Department of Biomedical Science for Health, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy.
Background:
Indocyanine green-guided (ICG-guided) lymphadenectomy during gastrectomy for cancer has been proposed to enhance the accuracy of lymphadenectomy. The impact of ICG-guided lymphadenectomy on patient survival remains debated.
Methods:
The findings of the systematic review were reconstructed into an individual patient data (IDP) meta-analysis with restricted mean survival time difference (RMSTD). Overall survival (OS) and disease-free (DFS) survival were primary outcomes. RMSTD, standardized mead difference (SMD), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used as pooled effect size measures.
Results:
Three studies (6325 patients) were included; 42% of patients underwent ICG-guided lymphadenectomy. The patients' age ranged from 47 to 72 years and 58% were males. Proximal, distal, and total gastrectomy were completed in 6.8%, 80.4%, and 12.8% of patients, respectively. The surgical approach was laparoscopic (62.3%) and robotic (37.7%). ICG-guided lymphadenectomy was associated with a higher number of harvested lymph nodes compared to non-ICG-guided lymphadenectomy (SMD 0.50; 95% CI 0.45-0.55). At the 42-month follow-up, OS and DFS estimates for ICG-guided vs. non-ICG-guided lymphadenectomy were 0.5 months (95% CI -0.01, 1.1) and 1.3 months (95% CI 0.39, 2.15), respectively.
Conclusions:
Our analysis suggests that ICG-guided lymphadenectomy offers equivalent long-term OS and DFS compared to non-ICG-guided lymphadenectomy.
