When planning an operation, surgeons usually rely on traditional 2D imaging. Moreover, colon neoplastic lesions are not always easy to locate macroscopically, even during surgery. A 3D virtual model may allow surgeons to localize lesions with more precision and to better visualize the anatomy. In this study, we primary analyzed and discussed the clinical impact of using such 3D models in colorectal surgery. This is a monocentric prospective observational pilot study that includes 14 consecutive patients who presented colorectal lesions with indication for surgical therapy. A staging computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and a colonoscopy were performed on each patient. The information gained from them was provided to obtain a 3D rendering. The 2D images were shown to the surgeon performing the operation, while the 3D reconstructions were shown to a second surgeon. Both of them had to locate the lesion and describe which procedure they would have performed; we then compared their answers with one another and with the intraoperative and histopathological findings. The lesion localizations based on the 3D models were accurate in 100% of cases, in contrast to conventional 2D CT scans, which could not detect the lesion in two patients (in these cases, lesion localization was based on colonoscopy). The 3D model reconstruction allowed an excellent concordance correlation between the estimated and the actual location of the lesion, allowing the surgeon to correctly plan the procedure with excellent results. Larger clinical studies are certainly required.
Keywords: CT scan; colon cancer; localization.