Clipping inguinal lymphatics decreases lymphorrhoea after lymphadenectomy following cancer treatment: results from a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Post-operative lymphorrhea is a well-known complication of inguinal lymph node dissection. However, the interventions to reduce the duration of drain in situ have not been sufficiently elaborated. OBJECTIVES We evaluated the potential role of intra-operative mapping of lymphatic leakage with peri-incisional methylene blue injection and clipping of lymphatics after inguinal block dissection in reducing postoperative lymphorrhea. METHODS We randomized 39 inguinal dissections done for various malignancies such as for carcinoma penis, urethra, malignant melanoma, rectum into 19 dissections (Interventional group) and 20 dissections (Control group). In the interventional group, after the completion of inguinal dissection, two ml of methylene blue dye was injected 4-8cm from the incision to identify the leaking lymphatics and they were clipped. RESULTS The primary outcome was the decrease in duration of days of drain in situ and was found to have significant reduction of 3.07 days in the interventional arm. (p value-0.02). The secondary outcome was the reduction of 21 ml of mean drain output in the interventional group (p = 0.09). The number of lymphatics clipped was not found to have statistical correlation with the duration of drain in situ and the mean drain output. CONCLUSION The intraoperative mapping of lymphatic channels using methylene blue after inguinal dissection reduces the number of days of drain in situ.