Surgical techniques for laparoscopic lymph node dissection

After dealing with the adnexa, the peritoneum on the surface of the psoas major muscle is cut to reach the round ligament where it enters the abdominal wall, where the round ligament is cut to expose the extent of the lymph nodes to be dissected. The internal iliac artery sheath is first separated along the surface of the internal iliac artery, and the ureter is separated medially to dissect out the lateral rectal space. Dissecting on its lateral side, the lateral hiatus of the bladder is entered. The medial side of this hiatus is the bladder wall, and the lateral side is the obturator muscle and levator muscle of the pelvic wall, between which is the obturator fossa with the obturator vessels and nerves. The connective tissue on the surface of the psoas major muscle is separated, and care is taken to preserve the genitofemoral nerve. The lymphatic adipose tissue was separated from the pelvic wall by separating between the psoas major muscle and the external iliac vessels and entering the foraminal fossa. The external iliac vessels are pushed medially, and the foramen occulans nerve can be separated beneath them. The lymph node dissection begins with the common iliac vessels by dissecting the sheaths of the common and external iliac vessels and separating the lymphatic connective tissue located on their surfaces. The lower border of the external iliac lymph node dissection should reach the inferior abdominal wall vessels and the inguinal ligament. Here the deep inguinal lymph nodes can be isolated and the deep spinous iliac vein crossing the external iliac artery is exposed. The external iliac artery is completely separated, and the arterial and venous sheaths are stripped to remove the lymphatic tissue over them. Finally, starting below the external iliac vessels, the lymph node fatty tissue located within the foramen occulans is separated and removed medially, inferiorly to the pelvic wall and superiorly to the bifurcation of the internal and external iliac vessels. The arteries, veins and nerves of the foramen ovale located in the foramen ovale fossa are exposed. Damage to the foramen ovale nerve is avoided as much as possible. After removal of lymph nodes located in the foramen ovale, in case of vascular bleeding, bipolar electrocoagulation can be used to stop the bleeding. When performing pelvic lymph node dissection, the right common iliac vein is more obviously exposed and easily damaged, so special attention should be paid to avoid vascular injury when dissecting lymph nodes here. During the separation of the vascular sheath, the tissue is stretched to form a gap between it and the vessels to facilitate separation. If intraoperative metastasis to the common iliac lymph nodes is found, further clearance of the para-abdominal aortic lymph nodes should be performed.