Usefulness of Fluorescence imaging with indocyanine green for evaluation of bowel perfusion in the urgency setting: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Roberta Rizzo; Carlo Vallicelli; Luca Ansaloni; Federico Coccolini; Paola Fugazzola; Massimo Sartelli; Vanni Agnoletti; Gian Luca Baiocchi; Fausto Catena

doi:10.1097/JS9.0000000000001529

Usefulness of Fluorescence imaging with indocyanine green for evaluation of bowel perfusion in the urgency setting: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Int J Surg. 2024 May 20. doi: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000001529. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Roberta Rizzo¹, Carlo Vallicelli¹, Luca Ansaloni², Federico Coccolini³, Paola Fugazzola², Massimo Sartelli⁴, Vanni Agnoletti⁵, Gian Luca Baiocchi⁶, Fausto Catena¹

Affiliations

¹ Urgency and emergency surgery department, Bufalini Hospital, Cesena.
² Unit of General Surgery I, IRCCS San Matteo Hospital, Pavia, University of Pavia.
³ General Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Pisa University Hospital.
⁴ Department of General and Emergency Surgery, Macerata Hospital.
⁵ Anesthesia and Intensive Care department, Bufalini Hospital, Cesena.
⁶ Sperimental science department, University of Brescia.

PMID: 38768464
DOI: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000001529

Abstract

Introduction: Fluorescence imaging with indocyanine (ICG) has been extensively utilized to assess bowel perfusion in oncologic surgery. In the emergency setting there are many situations in which bowel perfusion assessment is required. Large prospective studies or RCTs evaluating feasibility, safety and utility of ICG in the emergency setting are lacking. The primary aim is to assess the usefulness of ICG for evaluation of bowel perfusion in the emergency setting.

Materials and methods: The manuscript was drafted following the recommendations of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement (PRISMA). A systematic literature search was carried out through Pubmed, Scopus, and the ISI Web of Science. Assessment of included study using the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) was calculated. The meta-analysis was carried out in line with recommendations from the Cochrane Collaboration and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines, and the Mantel-Haenszel random effects model was used to calculate effect sizes.

Results: 10,093 papers were identified. 84 were reviewed in full-text, and 78 were excluded: 64 were case reports; 10 were reviews without original data; 2 were letters to the editor; and 2 contained unextractable data. Finally, six studies22-27 were available for quality assessment and quantitative synthesis. The probability of reoperation using ICG fluorescence angiography resulted similar to the traditional assessment of bowel perfusion with a RD was -0.04 (95% CI:-0.147 to 0.060). The results were statistically significant P=0.029, although the heterogeneity was not negligible with a 59.9% of the I2 index. No small study effect or publication bias were found.

Conclusions: This first metanalysis on the use of IGC fluorescence for ischemic bowel disease showed that this methodology is a safe and feasible tool in the assessment of bowel perfusion in the emergency setting. This topic should be further investigated in high quality studies.