Image-guided Ultrasound Robotic Intraoperative Evaluation of Lymph-nodes Status in Gynecological Malignancies

The assessment of lymph node status is of crucial importance in gynaecological malignancies. Indeed, the prognosis and adjuvant treatment regimens are strongly influenced by the presence of nodal involvement. Systematic extensive lymphadenectomies are often performed for staging, diagnosis of skip metastases and to define the radiation field when radiotherapy treatments are required. Nevertheless, these can lead to significant short-term and long-term lymphatic complications, which are difficult to justify if the lymph nodes are free from metastasis. To avoid unnecessary comprehensive procedures in early-stage cancers, evaluation of the sentinel lymph node has acquired a valuable role even if limitations are still present (rate of frozen section false negative, "empty packets" and mapping failure). The introduction of an intra-operative non-invasive imaging technique capable of describi