Efficacy of 3-Dimensional Endorectal Ultrasound for Staging Early Extraperitoneal Rectal Neoplasms.

Background: Adequate oncologic staging of rectal neoplasia is important for treatment and prognostic evaluation of the disease. Diagnostic methods such as endorectal ultrasound can assess rectal wall invasion and lymph node involvement.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to correlate findings of 3-dimensional endorectal ultrasound and pathologic diagnosis of extraperitoneal rectal tumors with regard to depth of rectal wall invasion, lymph node involvement, percentage of rectal circumference involvement, and tumor extension.