Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Lymphangiography in Colorectal Oncologic Practice:Current Use and Future Considerations

The clearance of lesions during surgery for colorectal cancer encompasses the removal of both the primary tumour and its concomitant lymphatic drainage.Huge strides have been made in identifying the precise location of not only the primary tumour,but also the lymph nodes(LNs),owing to the use of intraoperative navigation techniques.Among these techniques,indocyanine green-enhanced fluorescence imaging(ICG-FI)has revolutionized colorectal oncologic surgery by providing clear visualization during lymphangiography.ICG-FI has emerged as a powerful tool for sentinel lymph node procedures that allows for local excision instead of radical D3 lymphadenectomy.It also makes it possible to identify potential metastatic lateral pelvic lymph nodes,which enables simultaneous lymphadenectomy of the pelvic side-wall during the resection of middle-lower rectal cancer.This review provides an update on the current use of and research on ICG-FI-guided LNs mapping for colorectal malignancies,and also discusses its drawbacks and future prospects.