Using preoperative MRI to prevent unnecessary lymphadenectomies in patients with grade 1 endometrial cancer decreases operating room times and post-operative complications.

MRI can exclude myometrial invasion (MI) and cervical invasion (CI) with high accuracy in endometrial carcinoma. Women with small tumors, no MI, no CI and no evidence of extra-uterine spread have a very low risk of lymph node metastasis, and lymphadenectomy can be avoided. The goal of our study was to demonstrate how using preoperative MRI to prevent unnecessary lymphadenectomy can affect operating room time (OR) and post-operative complications. We performed an IRB approved retrospective study evaluating MRI results, lymphadenectomy status, operative times, and post-operative complications. This demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in OR times and post-operative complications.