Abdominal ultrasonography in detecting and surgical treatment of pancreatic carcinoma.

THE AIM OF THE STUDY was to asses the clinical value of percutaneous abdominal ultrasonography in diagnosis, staging and surgical treatment of patients with pancreatic carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS Prospective clinical trial on diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous abdominal ultrasonography was conducted in 409 consecutive patients with pancreatic cancer which were operated on at the I Dept. of General Surgery in Cracow between 2000 and 2010. RESULTS Diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous abdominal ultrasonography in pancreatic cancer was 91,1%. The accuracy in detecting different stages of local advancement according to TNM classification was assessed respectively 92.3%-T1, 91.3%-T2, 89.4%-T3, 92.1%-T4, a whole T1-T4 on 91.3%. Diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous abdominal ultrasonography in diagnosis of metastasis to lymph nodes, vascular infiltration, and resectability was respectively 80.7%, 86%, 91.4%. CONCLUSIONS Percutaneous abdominal ultrasonography has high diagnostic accuracy in diagnosis, staging and predicting surgical treatment of patients with pancreatic carcinoma.