Impact of obesity in the identification of the sentinel lymph node in endometrial cancer: a retrospective, monocentric study and literature review

Purpose To evaluate the sentinel lymph node (SLN) protocol for staging endometrial carcinomas, assessing its impact on surgical management, and determining indications for adjuvant therapies. The study also examines factors that may influence SNL mapping, particularly focusing on the failure of the technique due to obesity. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the medical records of patients with a histological diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma, who underwent surgical staging with SLN biopsy. The lymph node status was compared between non-obese (group 1) and obese (group 2) patients. Results 71 women were included in the study, of which 33 were non-obese (46.5%) and 38 were obese (53.5%). The failure detection rate was higher in obese patients (14, 36.8%) compared to non-obese patients (5, 15.2%) ( p = 0.039). The risk of mapping failure increased by 1.6 times for every 5-unit increase in body mass index (BMI) (OR 1.672, 95% CI 1.024–2.730, p = 0.040). BMI was confirmed as an independent risk factor for mapping failure in both univariate (OR 3.267, 95% CI 1.027–10.395, p = 0.045) and multivariate analyses (OR 5.779, 95% CI 1.320–25.297, p = 0.020). Conclusion SLN detection in obese patients requires great care, as obesity may alter the sensitivity of the technique.