Effect of using magnifying loupe glasses on lymphocele formation and surgical outcomes in gynecologic oncology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of using magnifying loupes during surgery on surgical outcomes and lymphocele formation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 36 patients with gynecologic cancer who underwent pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. Age, body mass index, menopausal status, type of cancer, comorbid diseases, preoperative albumin and albumin replacement therapy, performance status, serum CA125, hemoglobin, platelets and white blood cells, surgical procedure, blood loss, blood transfusion, the count of removed lymph nodes, presence of metastatic lymph nodes, total amount of drainage, postoperative complications, operation length, and count of used hemoclips were recorded. Patients were randomized into two groups: group 1 operated using loupe glasses, and group 2, without loupes. RESULTS: In the loupe-negative group, total drainage volume was 6698 mL, whereas in the loupe-positive group, it was only 1049 mL (p<0.01). Postoperatively, the mean drainage duration was 10.6±5.1 days in loupe-negative group and 4.8±2.4 days in the loupe-positive group (p=0.0001). There were no differences between the two groups in terms of surgical site infections, fascial defects, and pulmonary thromboembolism (p=0.39, 0.33, 0.59, respectively). There was no significant difference in the number of harvested lymph nodes in patients who underwent surgery with or without loupes being used. The count of used hemoclips were 50.22±8.05 and 41.38±9.7 for the loupe-negative and positive groups, respectively (p<0.01). There was no lymphocele in the loupe-positive group, but we detected 5 (27.8%) lymphocele in the loupe-negative group (p=0.05). CONCLUSION: Gynecologic oncologic surgeons can add magnifying loupe glasses to their armament and benefit from this technical device; lymphocele development, total drainage volume, length of drainage time, and clip counts can be decreased by using loupe glasses in gynecologic cancer surgery.