Pre-operative Evaluation of Intra-abdominal Malignant Tumors By Laparoscopy And Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology

Abstract

There have been a noticeable resurgence of interest in the use of laparoscopy in the evaluation of intra-abdominal malignant tumors in the last 2-3 years, olthough the basic technique has been available for over eight decades. Despite the availability of excellent imaging techniques, such as ultrasound and CT scanning, it is recognized that laparoscopy has a valuable contribution to make in the preoperative staging of intra-abdominal malignant tUmors.

The present study aims at the assessment of the accuracy of visual laparoscopic diagnosis and the determination of the management benefit from diagnostic laparoscopy in the intra­ abdominal malignant tumors.

This study included 60 patients of different intra­ abdominal malignant tumos who were selected from patients admitted at the surgical oncology departement of the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, during the period of 1994- 1996. Those patients underwent either abdominal ultrasonography or computerized tomography scanning that showed no evidence of metastatic disease at the time of exploration. Laparoscopy was performed in all cases to define the intra-abdominal spread of the malignant tumor including lymphatic drainage, liver • and peritoneum. The results were