[Initial experiences with laparoscopic intraoperative ultrasound].

Preoperative ultrasound as well as intraoperative laparoscopic diagnosis have both their limits, a fact that might be significant for laparoscopic surgical management. In particular, since in this surgical domain, where almost everything has become technically feasible, the operator must decide what is to the benefit of the patient. A possible solution could be laparoscopic ultrasound, i.e. ultrasound diagnosis per laparoscopy at the very site of the lesion. The advantages are evident. Due to the closeness to the organ to be examined, the frequency of the scan head can be extremely high, resulting in better resolution. Also, structures could be visualized by ultrasound which e.g., due to adhesions cannot be seen with the laparoscope. Moreover, ultrasound offers a view into the structures which can be seen only from the exterior with the laparoscope. To perform these examinations we used a specially designed scanhead (Toshiba): Instead of the optical system a crystal array was inserted into a conventional gastroscope. The result was a high resolution 7.5 MHz linear array at the distal end of a freely movable gastroscope. Colour doppler sonography is feasible with this scanhead. We examined 19 patients, 16 of them with ovarian tumours, and attempted visualization of the uterine myometrium/endometrium as well as of the liver. In six cases of ovarian tumours in which only cystic structures were found by preoperative transvaginal sonography, laparoscopic ultrasound additionally revealed solid inner structures. In 5 cases direct laparoscopic view of the ovarian lesions was impossible due to severe adhesions. They were, however, easily detected by intraoperative ultrasound.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)