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World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2021; 27(31): 5189-5200
Published online Aug 21, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i31.5189
Role of near-infrared fluorescence in colorectal surgery
Elodie Zocola, Jeremy Meyer, Niki Christou, Emilie Liot, Christian Toso, Nicolas Christian Buchs, Frédéric Ris
Elodie Zocola, Medical School, University of Geneva, Genève 1205, Switzerland
Jeremy Meyer, Emilie Liot, Christian Toso, Nicolas Christian Buchs, Frédéric Ris, Division of Digestive Surgery, University Hospitals of Geneva, Genève 1205, Switzerland
Niki Christou, Service de Chirurgie Digestive, Endocrinienne et Générale, CHU de Limoges, Limoges Cedex 87025, France
Author contributions: Ris F conceived the manuscript; Zocola E, Meyer J and Ris F wrote the draft of the manuscript; all authors reviewed and accepted the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and licence their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licences/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jeremy Meyer, MD, PhD, Surgeon, Division of Digestive Surgery, University Hospitals of Geneva, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, Genève 1205, Switzerland. jeremy.meyer@hcuge.ch
Received: March 3, 2021
Peer-review started: March 3, 2021
First decision: April 17, 2021
Revised: April 27, 2021
Accepted: July 30, 2021
Article in press: July 30, 2021
Published online: August 21, 2021
Processing time: 167 Days and 21 Hours
Abstract

Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) is a technique of augmented reality that, when applied in the operating theatre, allows the colorectal surgeon to visualize and assess bowel vascularization, to identify lymph nodes draining a cancer site and to identify ureters. Herein, we review the literature regarding NIRF in colorectal surgery.

Keywords: Fluorescence; Enhanced reality; Anastomotic leak; Ureter; Anastomosis

Core Tip: Near-infrared fluorescence appears to be a useful tool that assists surgeons performing colorectal surgery by identifying poorly vascularized areas of the bowel and therefore decreasing the incidence of anastomotic leak, visualizing lymphatic drainage and identifying the ureters during difficult surgery.