Clin Surg | Volume 8, Issue 1 | Case Series | Open Access
Ramos C*, Santos V, Pereira T, Ferreira C and Miranda L
Department of General Surgery, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, Portugal
*Correspondance to: Carlota Ramos
Fulltext PDFIntroduction: The utilization of real-time fluorescence-guided surgery, particularly with the use of Indocyanine Green (ICG), has been described over the last 70 years. However, its importance was rediscovered only in the last years. ICG is used in many surgical fields, such as ophthalmic surgery, cancer surgery (colorectal, hepatobiliary, gastric and breast cancer), transplantation, neurosurgery, vascular surgery and reconstructive surgery. Case Report: The authors present two cases in which fluorescence angiography with ICG was used in emergency surgery. The first case reports to a patient diagnosed with intestinal occlusion due to internal hernia, in which the dye was used to exclude the presence of segmental intestinal ischemia and thus avoiding unnecessary intestinal resection. The second case reports a rare case with large diagnostic doubts, involving a patient with suspected gastric ischemia. The use of angiography fluorescence with ICG was able to clarify the diagnosis and saved an unnecessary gastric resection, minimizing the complications associated with this intervention. Conclusion: ICG is a simple, fast and cheap dye that can be used in many types of surgery. Based on the principles of ICG fluorescence angiography and taking into account its increasing use in colorectal surgery, it is possible to infer the usefulness of this technique in similar situations, where there is doubt about tissue perfusion of an organ, especially in emergency surgery. Its utilization in this setting can improve the patient’s outcome and reduce the amount complications affecting survival and quality of life.
Ramos C, Santos V, Pereira T, Ferreira C, Miranda L. Can Indocyanine Green Angiography be Useful in Emergency Surgery?. Clin Surg. 2023; 8: 3621..