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.