Efficacy of octreotide to reduce lymphorrhea and prevent lymphocele after pelvic lymph node excision in gynecological malignancies.

Aim: To study the efficacy of octreotide to reduce lymphorrhea and prevent lymphocele after pelvic lymph node excision in gynecological malignancies.

Methods: Patients with more than 200 mL of lymph drained per day until postoperative day 3 after pelvic lymph node excision were enrolled. Of the 75 patients, 36 were managed by conservative methods without the injection of octreotide, and the other 39 patients were treated with the injection of octreotide. The treated group was injected with 0.1 mg octreotide q8h for 5 days, starting on postoperative day 3. The drainage tube was removed when the amount of drained lymph decreased to 100 mL per day. The age, BMI, operation time, removed lymph nodes, amount of lymph, duration of drain placement, proportion of patients with lymphocele and complications between these two group were compared.

Results: The total and mean daily amount of lymph produced per patient was significantly lower in the octreotide-treated group than in the untreated group. The duration of drain placement was shorter in the octreotide group than in the untreated group. The proportion of patients with lymphocele in the treatment group was lower than that in the untreated group.

Conclusions: The injection of octreotide is effective to reduce lymphorrhea and prevent lymphocele after pelvic lymph node excision in gynecological malignancies.