Influência da marcação com nanquim sobre a identificação de linfonodos em pacientes com câncer de reto operados

The prognosis and treatment of colorectal cancer are based on anatomopathological analysis, particularly on lymph node evaluation. The number of lymph nodes identified depends of the of the surgery team' efficiency and the pathologist's commitment. Tattooing tumor with India ink in colonoscopy facilitate the identification of the lesion site by the surgeon. However, besides marking the tumor site, India ink tattooing also seems to mark lymph nodes, which may make their identification easier by the surgeon and pathologist. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether tumor tattooing results in an increase in the number of lymph nodes analyzed. METHOD: 22 patients with rectal cancer submitted to surgery after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were studied. The patients were randomly assigned to either of two groups: a) India ink tattooing b) no-tattooing RESULTS: The India ink tattooing group presented an average of 8.18 lymph nodes, with a mean of 0.72 positive results and mean distance of the tumor from the anus verge of 6.27 cm. The control group presented an average of 5.54 lymph nodes per patient, with a mean of 1.6 positive results, and a mean distance of the tumor from the anus verge of 5.09 cm. More lymph nodes were identified in the India ink tattooing group, however, without any statistical difference. CONCLUSION: India ink tattooing after neoadjuvant therapy does not contribute to increase the number of lymph nodes identified in patients with rectal tumor.