Abstract
Indocyanine green (ICG) is a fluorescent dye with a wide spectrum of usage in minimally invasive urological surgery, where intravenous application of ICG can be used for identificaton of perfusion and tissue density. This review summarizes development, contemporary trends and also the future possibilities of ICG usage in robotic urology.
During robotic kidney resection application of ICG is used for differentiation between tumorous tissue and healthy renal parenchyma. Administration of ICG during robotic radical prostatectomy can improve identification of the neurovascular bundle in nerve-sparing procedures and detect the sentinel lymph node in pelvic lymph node dissection.
The principle of ICG application can be used also in the effort to reduce post-operative complications during robotic varicocelectomy. Future controlled trials are needed to evaluate if the use of ICG combined with the robotic surgical system will affect medical procedures and functional and oncological outcomes.