Histological comparison between endoscopic axillary lymphadenectomy (EAL) after lipo-suction and classic surgical lymphadenectomy

Suzanne recently described a new technique of axillary lymphadenectomy irt breast cancer to reduce post surgical morbidity. It combines liposuction an d endoscopic dissection. To determine whether this technique induces lymph node alterations, we examined retrospectively 111 lymphadenectomies none by this new method and compared them to 41 lymphadenectomies performed by con ventional surgery. The percentage of altered lymph nodes, with or without m etastasis, was approximatively the same with both techniques (about 19%). L ymph nodes removed by conventional surgical lymphadenectomy had a detached capsule more frequently. Cellular crush was more frequent after liposuction and endoscopic dissection. Liposuction altered more frequently large lymph nones, which represented however, the minority of the lymph nodes removed by this technique. No specific alteration was detected in relation to eithe r of the two technics.