The impact of intraoperative ultrasonography on the surgical treatment of patients with colorectal liver metastases

INTRODUCTION: Intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) has been the standard in surgical decision making in oncologic liver surgery. Preoperative imaging techniques have improved substantially in resent years; therefore, the importance of IOUS might change. The current results of IOUS were compared with preoperative high-resolution helical CT scanning and the impact of IOUS on surgical decision making was evaluated. METHODS: A total of 100 consecutive patients who underwent open surgery for colorectal liver metastases within 4 weeks after preoperative imaging, performed with high-speed helical CT scanners, were included for this study. During surgery, IOUS was performed by a liver specialized radiologist. The findings on preoperative and intraoperative imaging and surgical exploration were compared regarding number, site, and size of the hepatic lesions. The preoperative surgical plan was compared with the final surgical treatment. RESULTS: One hundred patients with CRLM underwent 117 surgical treatments. In 38 patients IOUS differed from preoperative data. In 23 cases IOUS identified more metastatic lesions. In five patients, intraoperative findings identified smaller or less hepatic lesions. Additional information on the localization of the hepatic lesions was gathered by IOUS and changed the surgical treatment in ten cases. IOUS alone altered the surgical strategy 35 times during 117 procedures. In nearly all cases, discrepancy between the preoperative CT scan and IOUS resulted in a change of surgical treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Despite improvement in preoperative imaging technology, the intraoperative use of ultrasonography remains of crucial importance. The detection of preoperatively unknown lesions remains high with great consequence on surgical therapy.