The current role of laparoscopy in staging upper gastrointestinal malignancies

What is the role of diagnostic laparoscopy in a gastroenterology unit?

“…[28][29][30] Diagnostic laparoscopy is performed in these patients to avoid laparotomy. The overall benefi t of laparoscopy has been well evaluated in esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic cancer.…”

“…The overall benefi t of laparoscopy has been well evaluated in esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic cancer. [28][29][30] This procedure is highly sensitive for detection of peritoneal and liver surface metastasis, but less sensitive in detecting locally advanced disease or nodal spread. 31 In this study, only 25 patients were evaluated for staging intra-abdominal malignancy, and patients with GB cancer accounted for 60% of all patients.…”

Outcome of unresected gastric cancer after laparoscopic diagnosis of peritoneal carcinomatosis

“…In order to avoid unnecessary laparotomies, reliable staging is needed in patients with gastric cancer. However, CT scan fails to diagnose intraabdominal spread in a percentage of patients that ranges from 21 to 40% [10][11][12]. Staging laparoscopy, providing a direct vision of the peritoneal cavity, has demonstrated a global efficiency of 95% for detection of peritoneal implants [18,19].…”

“…Many authors have demonstrated laparoscopy is reliable for the detection of abdomiOutcome of unresected gastric cancer after laparoscopic diagnosis of peritoneal carcinomatosis nal metastasis, with a global accuracy of 95% [7][8][9]. It permits detection of unsuspected peritoneal deposits in one third of patients [10][11][12]. This information helps to avoid unnecessary laparotomies and allows the selection of patients who can benefit from chemotherapy [13].…”

Transgastric in vivo histology in the peritoneal cavity using miniprobe-based confocal fluorescence microscopy in an acute porcine model

“…Adequate staging of tumors in the gastrointestinal tract is crucial in the choice of appropriate medical or surgical therapy. How− ever, 10 % ± 40 % of gastrointestinal malignancies remain under− staged in spite of the availability of modern imaging methods [11]. Since the introduction of minimally invasive surgery, diag− nostic laparoscopy [12] has regained importance in the preo− perative staging of gastrointestinal malignancies.…”