Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2026; 18(12): 123679
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123679
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123679
Preoperative endoscopic indocyanine green-guided fluorescence imaging improves lymph node retrieval after radical gastrectomy
Xin-Fu Song, Ming-Xu Luo, Yi-Hui Lei, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Xiamen Humanity Hospital, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China
Xiao-Qing Huang, Department of Gastroenterology, Xiamen Humanity Hospital, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China
Yun-Ling Zhuang, Department of Anesthesiology, Xiamen Humanity Hospital, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Song XF and Luo MX designed the research study; Song XF, Lei YH, Huang XQ, and Zhuang YL performed the research; Lei YH and Huang XQ collected and analyzed the data; Song XF and Luo MX have been involved in drafting the manuscript; all authors have been involved in revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; all authors give final approval of the version to be published; all authors have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to its accuracy or integrity.
AI contribution statement: No AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Supported by Xiamen Natural Science Foundation Project, No. 3502Z202374080.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by Xiamen Humanity Hospital Ethics Committee (approval No. HAXM-MEC-20230703-049-01).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The original anonymous dataset is available on request from the corresponding author at zyl901202@126.com.
Corresponding author: Yun-Ling Zhuang, Department of Anesthesiology, Xiamen Humanity Hospital, No. 3777 Xianyue Road, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China.
Received: June 23, 2026
Revised: July 29, 2026
Accepted: September 11, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 139 Days and 0.9 Hours
Revised: July 29, 2026
Accepted: September 11, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 139 Days and 0.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In 280 patients with stage I-III gastric cancer undergoing laparoscopic D2 gastrectomy, preoperative endoscopic submucosal indocyanine green injection with intraoperative near-infrared fluorescence navigation significantly improved total lymph node retrieval and metastatic node detection compared with white-light surgery. Pathological upstaging was more frequent. At 12 months, overall survival and disease-free survival were higher with indocyanine green; because follow-up was limited to a 12-month landmark, these survival findings should be interpreted as early signals that require confirma