The Main Determinant of Operative Time in Diagnostic Lymphadenectomy: Lymph Node Depht.

Objective: We evaluated patients who underwent excisional peripheral lymph node biopsy in terms of histopathologic findings, palpability of lymph nodes, incision depth, and surgery duration, together with demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Methods: This prospective study was conducted over an 18-month period at a university research hospital. The total number of 42 patients who attended the oncologic surgery outpatient clinic for excisional lymph biopsy was included in the study. Results: Reactive lymph nodes were found in most benign cases (n=15/25), but the most common malignancy in the malignant group was B-cell lymphoma (n=5/17). When the lymph node was clinically non-palpable and had a size of up to 3.5 cm, the incision was deeper (p<0.05). Conclusion: It would be a useful approach to add the depth of peripheral lymph nodes to the ultrasound reports together with other necessary data to assist the surgeon so that the exact location of the node can be more precisely predicted, and unnecessary incision size, depth, elongation of the duration of the surgery, and complications can be avoided. Collaboration between the surgeon, radiologist, and pathologist is a very important corner stone not to underdiagnose a malignancy and to avoid complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]