Utility of the endo-rectal ultrasonography with sectorial transducer in the study of rectoanal pathology.

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the usefulness of endorectal ultrasonography with a sectorial transducer to diagnose and determine the degree of rectoanal disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used a 5 MHz sectorial echographic transducer to study 61 successive patients, 22 of them with a suspicion or diagnosis of anorectal neoplasia (group I); 25 with perianal suppurating disease (group II); 9 with faecal incontinence (group III) and 5 with chronic idiopathic anal disease (group IV). RESULTS: In group I, 3 patients (13.63%) were sent to us with a suspicion of anorectal cancer which was not confirmed for any of them. For other 3 patients (13.63%) we had to rule out a neoplastic relapse which was only confirmed in one case; in 16 patients (72.72%) we had to establish tumour stage, which we achieved in 81.25% of cases. In group II, 2 patients had Crohn's perianal disease (8%), 10 patients showed a perianal abscess (40%) and 13 (52%) individuals had fistula tracts whose internal orifices could be found in 53.84% of cases. In all patients sent with faecal incontinence (group III) we could delimit sphincter interruption. A sphincter abscess was found in one of the 5 patients sent to us with chronic idiopathic anal pain, although it had not been diagnosed before. CONCLUSIONS: Sectorial endorectal ultrasonography is a very useful technique in the study of tumour and rectoanal suppurating diseases, as well as of faecal incontinence. It is also of great importance for patients with chronic idiopathic anal pain.