“The incidence of melanoma across the developed world is increasing; in England, the incidence has almost doubled from 6000 cases in 2000 to 11,000 cases in 2011. The 5-
year disease specific survival rate for localised melanoma is 80%2 and for patients with regional (stage III) and distant (stage IV) disease it is 39% and 33% respectively. Sentinel
lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a minimally invasive technique that identifies patients who have occult lymph node micrometastasis. Research shows that regional lymph node status is the most powerful predictor of survival, and since 2009 the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) classification for melanoma has incorporated it into the staging system. Since SLNB with dynamic lymph node mapping was introduced in 1992, it is considered the
gold standard of staging for melanoma.”

“The key findings of this study include the average pooled complication rate of 11.3%, and the most commonly reported early post-operative complications: seroma and infection which had a reported average of 5.1% and 2.9% respectively. No deaths occurred as a result from SLNB.
There were very few definitive ‘permanent’ complications, with many studies reporting resolution within the follow-up period. There were 13 cases of ‘allergy’ to the radiocolloid
or blue dye, however, often ‘allergy’ was not defined, and therefore the true rate of hypersensitivity or anaphylaxis cannot be reported. There were several serious systemic
sequelae reported, including myocardial infarction, thromboembolism and stroke. One study attributed their case of iliofemoral vein thrombosis to a hypercoagulability state and multiple metastatic groin nodes.”

Moody, J A et al. “Complications of sentinel lymph node biopsy for melanoma – A systematic review of the literature.” European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology vol. 43,2 (2017): 270-277. Full Text for Emory Users