LYMPHOCYSTS AFTER PELVIC AND PARAAORTIC LYMPHADENECTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF GYNECOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES

Between January 1991 and May 1992, 45 patients with gynecologic malignancies had pelvic or pelvic + paraaortic lymph node dissection in addition to radical hysterectomy. There were 36 cervix and 9 endometrial cancer cases. Lymphocyst was found in 6 (13.3%) of them. Thirty cases had only pelvic lymph node dissection and in this group there was only 1 (3.3%) case with lymphocyst. Fifteen cases had both pelvic and paraaortic dissection and there were 5 (83.3%) lymphocyst cases. Among 6 cases with lymphocysts more than 60 nodes were removed from pelvic and paraaortic regions in 5 of them. We concluded that especially the cases with intensive pelvic dissection had the highest risk. Differential diagnosis has to be made between cystic lesions like seroma, urinoma, pelvic abscess, residual or recurrent tumors and lymphocysts before radiotherapy or other advanced therapeutic modalities by using ultrasonography and fine needle aspiration biopsy.