Effectiveness and reliability of sentinel lymph node biopsy under local anesthesia for breast cancer.
The objective of the present study was to determine the effectiveness and reliability of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) performed under local anesthesia (LA) for patients with breast cancer, by comparing the results with those obtained under general anesthesia (GA). Between January 2006 and February 2007, SLNB was performed under LA or GA in 37 and 94 patients with clinical Tis, T1, T2 or T3 N0 breast cancer, respectively. All underwent radiocolloid and blue dye injections to identify sentinel nodes. The sentinel node detection rate, the number of nodes harvested and the number of positive nodes were compared between the two groups. The sentinel node identification rates were similar for both groups. The number of sentinel and axillary nodes removed and number of positive nodes did not differ significantly between the two groups. SLNB performed under LA is an effective and reliable alternative to SLNB done under GA.
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. y_kongdan@hotmail.com
Youwanush
Y
Kongdan
Prakasit
P
Chirappapha
Panuwat
P
Lertsithichai
D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000772:Anesthesia, Local; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods*