ABSTRACT

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLN) has rapidly become standart of care in early stage breast cancer. However, the optimal injection sides remained unclear for successful lypmhatic mapping. Here, we attempted to investigate the effi cacies and success rates of diff erent injection routes on the localization of SLNs. Between November 1998 and January 2007 in an University Hospital, SLN biopsy was performed in 281 consecutive patients and data was analysed retrospectively in terms of injection techniques. Sentinel lymph nodes succesfully identifi ed in 92 % of patients. Univariate analysis revealed that, no signifi cance was found between intratumoral, peritumoral or pericavitary injections in the aspect of successful SLN identifi cation (p=0,55). Also, similar results were observed between intradermal and paranchymal radionuclide injections (p=0,474). Whereas, isosulphan blue was found to be superior than methylene blue dye (p=0,004). However, remarkable skin necrosis due to intradermal isosulphan blue dye injection was observed in some patients. In conclusion, whether the radionuclide combined with blue dye or not, each injection route has successful but similar SLN identifi cation rates.