Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the application value of near infrared fluorescence navigation technology in oral cancer surgery and its surgical margin. Methods: Fourteen patients with oral cancer who received surgical treatment in the Stomatological Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were selected in this study. Each patient received 0.75?mg/Kg indocyanine green injection intravenously 6-8h before surgery. Near infrared fluorescence imaging system was used to observe and record during and after operation. Specimens were collected within and outside the fluorescence boundary of the isolated lesions for pathological examination after surgery. Results: Fluorescence imaging was observed in all the lesions, and the tumor background ratio (1.58±0.52) was significantly higher than that of the intraoperative lesions (1.39±0.39) (P<0.05). At the fluorescence boundary, the sensitivity and specificity of differentiating normal epithelium from abnormal epithelium (dysplasia and cancer tissues) were 83.3% and 57.9% respectively. Conclusions: NIR fluorescence technique can be used to detect the residual tumor after the resection of the primary oral cancer, and it is expected to be an auxiliary tool to assist clinicians in determining the surgical margin.

Key words: near-infrared fluorescence, indocyanine, oral squamous cell carcinoma, surgery