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Annals of Surgical Oncology
Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology 11/2016

01-10-2016 | Breast Oncology

Troubleshooting Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Breast Cancer Surgery

Authors: Ted A. James, MD, MS, FACS, Alex R. Coffman, BS, Anees B. Chagpar, MD, MSc, MPH, MA, MBA, FRCS(C), FACS, Judy C. Boughey, MD, FACS, V. Suzanne Klimberg, MD, Monica Morrow, MD, FACS, Armando E. Giuliano, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, Seth P. Harlow, MD

Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Issue 11/2016

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Abstract

Background

Performing a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard of care for axillary nodal staging in patients with invasive breast cancer and clinically negative nodes. The procedure provides valuable staging information with few complications when performed by experienced surgeons. However, variation in proficiency exists for this procedure, and a great amount of experience is required to master the technique, especially when faced with challenging cases. The purpose of this paper was to provide a troubleshooting guide for commonly encountered technical difficulties in SLNB, and offer potential solutions so that surgeons can improve their own technical performance from the collective knowledge of experienced specialists in the field.

Methods

Information was obtained from a convenience sample of six experienced breast cancer specialists, each actively involved in training surgeons and residents/fellows in SLNB. Each surgeon responded to a structured interview in order to provide salient points of the SLNB procedure.

Results

Four of the key opinion surgical specialists provided their perspective using technetium-99 m sulfur colloid, and two shared their experience using blue dye only. Distinct categories of commonly encountered problem scenarios were presented and agreed upon by the panel of surgeons. The responses to each of these scenarios were collected and organized into a troubleshooting guide.

Discussion

We present a compilation of ‘tips’ organized as a troubleshooting guide to be used to guide surgeons of varying levels of experience when encountering technical difficulties with SLNB.
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Metadata
Title
Troubleshooting Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Breast Cancer Surgery
Authors
Ted A. James, MD, MS, FACS
Alex R. Coffman, BS
Anees B. Chagpar, MD, MSc, MPH, MA, MBA, FRCS(C), FACS
Judy C. Boughey, MD, FACS
V. Suzanne Klimberg, MD
Monica Morrow, MD, FACS
Armando E. Giuliano, MD, FACS, FRCSEd
Seth P. Harlow, MD
Publication date
01-10-2016
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Annals of Surgical Oncology / Issue 11/2016
Print ISSN: 1068-9265
Electronic ISSN: 1534-4681
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-016-5432-8

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