European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology, Volume 50, Issue 2, 12 2 2023, Pages 107317 Consensus conference statement on fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) ESSO course on fluorescence-guided surgery. van Dam MA, Bijlstra OD, Faber RA, Warmerdam MI, Achiam MP, Boni L, Cahill RA, Chand M, Diana M, Gioux S, Kruijff S, Van der Vorst JR, Rosenthal RJ, Polom K, Vahrmeijer AL, Mieog JSD
Background
Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) has emerged as an innovative technique with promising applications in various surgical specialties. However, clinical implementation is hampered by limited availability of evidence-based reference work supporting the translation towards standard-of-care use in surgical practice. Therefore, we developed a consensus statement on current applications of FGS.
Methods
During an international FGS course, participants anonymously voted on 36 statements. Consensus was defined as agreement ≥70% with participation grade of ≥80%. All participants of the questionnaire were stratified for user and handling experience within five domains of applicability (lymphatics & lymph node imaging; tissue perfusion; biliary anatomy and urinary tracts; tumor imaging in colorectal, HPB, and endocrine surgery, and quantification and (tumor-) targeted imaging). Results were pooled to determine consensus for each statement within the respective sections based on the degree of agreement.
Results
In total 43/52 (81%) course participants were eligible as voting members for consensus, comprising the expert panel (n = 12) and trained users (n = 31). Consensus was achieved in 17 out of 36 (45%) statements with highest level of agreement for application of FGS in tissue perfusion and biliary/urinary tract visualization (71% and 67%, respectively) and lowest within the tumor imaging section (0%).
Conclusions
FGS is currently established for tissue perfusion and vital structure imaging. Lymphatics & lymph node imaging in breast cancer and melanoma are evolving, and tumor tissue imaging holds promise in early-phase trials. Quantification and (tumor-)targeted imaging are advancing toward clinical validation. Additional research is needed for tumor imaging due to a lack of consensus.
