Is There Additional Information from Laparoscopic Ultrasound in Tumor Staging?

Accurate preoperative staging of gastrointestinal malignancies is of major importance in the decision for adequate stage-related therapy. There is evidence that laparoscopy in combination with laparoscopic ultrasound is more accurate in the detection of intra-abdominal metastases than conventional preoperative imaging. Staging laparoscopy in combination with laparoscopic ultrasound is a minimally invasive technique that reveals intra-abdominal disseminated tumor spread and local tumor extent. Therefore laparoscopic ultrasound is an ideal adjunct to laparoscopy because this technique may compensate for the lack of tactile feedback with laparoscopic instruments. Color-coded Doppler imaging can be very valuable for the assessment of resectability in patients with pancreatic cancer. Current data confirm that laparoscopic ultrasound is capable of enhancing the accuracy of staging laparoscopy. Compared to standard laparoscopy, a combination of both techniques markedly increases the sensitivity of staging laparoscopy in the determination of unresectable disease. This is of major importance in the assessment of occult liver metastases and lymph node involvement. Laparoscopic ultrasonography improves the diagnostic accuracy compared to conventional imaging techniques and should be considered as integral part of staging laparoscopy.