Sentinel Node Navigation Surgery for Early Gastric Cancer: Analysis of Factors Which Affect Direction of Lymphatic Drainage

Background and purpose We started performing sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) for patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) using infrared ray electronic endoscopy (IREE) with indocyanine green injection from year 2000. The EGCs usually have complex lymphatic drainage, unidirectional or multidirectional lymphatic flow. In this study, we investigated and clarified factors that affect the direction of gastric lymphatic drainage.