Efficacy of Peroral CT Enterography with Lactulose Solution for Colorectal Cancer Staging

Abstract

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to investigate the efficacy of computed tomographic enterography (CTE) with oral lactulose solution for preoperative staging of colorectal cancer. Methods: Abdominal CTE examinations of 56 consecutive patients (37 men [66%] and 19 women [44%] with a mean age of 63.4 years and age range of 28–86 years) with colorectal carcinoma were retrospectively included in this study. The CTE images were independently evaluated by two radiologists. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. CTE findings were compared with pathologic results as the reference standard. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy rate of TNM staging were calculated. Results: The overall accuracy of CTE for the T stage was 87.5% (49 of 56 patients). Overstaging and understaging occurred in two and five of 56 patients, respectively. The overall accuracy of the assessment of lymph node involvement CTE images was 76.8% (46 of 56 patients). Over and understaging occurred in five of 56 patients and eight of 56 patients, respectively. Discussion and Conclusion: CTE with oral lactulose solution can be used as a useful technique for preoperative TNM staging of colorectal cancers.