Abstract:Objective:To observe the distribution of sentinel nodes(SN) in gastric cancer, and investigate their clinical significance. Methods:The extent and features of intraoperatively stained sentinel nodes in 288 cases of gastric cancer were analyzed retrospectively. Methylene blue was injected intraoperatively into the subseral muscle and submucosa of the normal gastric wall adjacent to the neoplasms,then lymphadenography was performed,and the nodes were resected for histopathological examination. Results:The pathological diagnosis of the 288 cases with gastric cancer was T1 in 102 cases,T2 106 cases and T3 60 cases. Stained nodes were detectable in 270 cases(success rate: 93.8%). One hundred and two cases were found to have lymph node metastasis; 66 cases had metastasis in both SNs and non-SNs; 18 cases in SNs alone; and 18 cases in non-SNs alone. Conclusions:Sentinel lymph nodes can accurately predict the lymph node metastatic status of gastric cancer patients during operation. Intraoperative sentinal lymph node mapping can avoid routine lymph node dissection in patients with gastric cancer with negative lymph node metastasis.