CT in Local Recurrence of Rectal Carcinoma

Objective: We evaluated the effectiveness of CT in detecting the recurrence of rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: As part of a postoperative follow-up protocol, periodic CT examinations were performed on 67 patients who had had potentially curative surgery for rectal carcinoma. Retrospectively we evaluated the CT of these patients. In 21 patients there was local tumoral recurrence, which was detected by CT in 15. We classified the patients into two groups according to the surgical technique employed: anterior resection (AR) or abdominoperineal resection (APR). Results: The sensitivity of CT for the diagnosis of local recurrence was greater in patients with APR (12/13; S=92%) than in those with AR (3/8; S=37%)