Indocyanine green fluorescence-guided sentinel node biopsy: A meta-analysis on detection rate and diagnostic performance

Abstract Background Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence-guided sentinel node biopsy (SLNB) has been successfully employed in various kinds of tumors. Clinical results of previous studies on this technique are at different levels of evidence. This Meta-analysis was conducted to provide a more precise estimation on its clinical performance. Methods Eligible studies were identified from systematical PubMed and EMBASE searches; data were extracted. A Meta-analysis was performed to generate pooled detection rate, sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and summary receiver operator characteristic curves. Results Fifteen published articles were included. Clinical data of 513 patients were obtained. The pooled detection rate, the pooled sensitivity, the pooled specificity, the pooled DOR and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were 0.96 (0.91–0.99), 0.87 (0.79–0.92), 1.00 (0.99–1.00) and 150.13 (57.42–392.56), respectively. Significant heterogeneities existed among studies. Significant publication bias was found in detection rate. The concentration  Conclusion Based on this Meta-analysis, this technique could be valued promising for detecting the presence of LN metastases. ICG injection with reduced concentration and larger volume may provide improved performance.