Endorectal ultrasound in preoperative evaluation on perirectal lymph node involvement in patients with rectal carcinoma

Objective To explore the value of endorectal ultrasound(ERUS) in preoperative assessment of perirectal nodes metastasis in patients with rectal carcinoma.Methods Fifty-three patients with primary rectal carcinoma confirmed by pathology underwent ERUS.The lymph nodes were classified as benign or malignant on the basis of size.The maximum diameter of benign lymph node was ≤5 mm,of malignant lymph nodes was 5 mm.Results The consistency of ERUS and pathology results was not good for judgement of perirectal nodes involvement(Kappa=0.228,P0.05).The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of ERUS was 80.00%(16/20),41.67%(5/12) and 65.63%(21/32),respectively.Using the maximum diameter of lymph node ≥5.25 mm as optimal diagnostic indicator,the area under the ROC curve was the largest(0.835,P0.01),and the sensitivity was 85.00%,the specificity was 66.70%.Conclusion The availability of ERUS in the assessment of perirectal nodes metastasis in patients with rectal carcinoma is limited,while ERUS can be used for preoperative evaluation of rectal carcinoma as an auxiliary examination method.