Role of computed tomography to preoperative tumor localization in colon cancer

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the role of computed tomography to preoperative tumor localization compared to optical colonoscopy in colon cancer. Methods: A prospective study on 49 colon cancer patients confirmed by postoperative pathology of colon adenocarcinoma who underwent colectomy at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital from April 2019 to August 2020. The colon was divided into four segments with the operative reports used as the standard. Results: 49 colon cancers patients had 51 tumors. Computed tomography localization was 92.2% accurate. Colonoscopic localization was only 76.5% accurate. The computed tomography inaccurate tumor localization was 7.8% vs 23.5% in colonoscopy (p<0.05). Colonoscopic inaccuracy was high in the the transverse colon (85.7%) and the descending colon (20.0%). Conclusions: Preoperative computed tomography is more accurate than colonoscopy in the localization of colon cancers. Key words: computed tomography, tumor localization, colonoscopy, colon cancer.