Lymph node dissection in malignant melanoma.
Regional node dissection was performed in 120 patients with malignant melanoma. Patients with clinically negative nodes had a 90% survival, whereas patients with enlarged nodes had a 15% survival. In 45 inguinal dissections, usually associated with a high morbidity, there was only a 4.5% incidence of infection and a 6.5% incidence of skin edge necrosis. For all types of node dissection, the overall incidence of wound infection was 5.8%, and that of necrosis of skin edges was 5%.
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000009:adverse effects; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008545:Melanoma / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009336:Necrosis / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology