Routine Intraoperative Ultrasound for the Detection of Liver Metastases during Resection of Primary Colorectal Cancer – A Systematic Review

Abstract

During the discovery of ColoRectal Cancer (CRC), 20% to 30% of patients have synchronous liver metastases. Ten to 30% of patients have non-evidence of Liver Metasteses (LM) following preoperative imaging such as Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CE-US), multi-slice Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography (CE-CT), Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CE-MRI), and Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT). Today, IntraOperative UltraSound (IOUS) in open surgery and Laparoscopic UltraSound (LUS) in laparoscopic or robotic surgery are considered the "gold standard" for detecting liver metastases. The object of this review is to demonstrate the higher sensitivity and specificity of IOUS and LUS in the detection rate of liver metastases.