The role of endoscopic ultrasound in the evaluation of chronic mesenteric ischaemia

Cristina Almansa, Helga Bertani, Kyung W. Noh, Michael B. Wallace, Timothy A. Woodward, Massimo Raimondo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction: Doppler transabdominal ultrasound is a validated screening test for chronic mesenteric ischaemia, but gas and obesity are limitations. Endoscopic ultrasound has been proposed as a comprehensive test to evaluate chronic upper abdominal pain and is capable of Doppler measurement. We aim to evaluate the accuracy of Doppler endoscopic ultrasound (D-EUS) as a single screening test to rule out chronic mesenteric ischaemia in patients with abdominal pain and compare it with Doppler transabdominal ultrasound (D-TUS). Methods: We enrolled all patients ≥50 years with chronic upper abdominal pain and vascular risk referred for endoscopic ultrasound. All were scheduled for D-EUS and D-TUS plus a confirmatory test if one of the previous resulted positive. We estimated the accuracy of both techniques comparing them using McNemar test. Results: 68 patients completed the study. Fifty-three (78%) underwent D-EUS, D-TUS, and a confirmatory test. Fifteen (38%) underwent follow-up after negative results. Three (4%) in the D-EUS group and 14 in the D-TUS (21%) were excluded due to artefacts. D-EUS presented a sensitivity of 63%, specificity of 84%, whilst D-TUS presented a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 78%. Specificity of D-EUS was not significantly different to D-TUS. Conclusions: These results support the role of Doppler endoscopic ultrasound to exclude chronic mesenteric ischaemia as cause of chronic abdominal pain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)470-474
Number of pages5
JournalDigestive and Liver Disease
Volume43
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2011

Keywords

  • Chronic abdominal pain
  • Chronic mesenteric ischaemia
  • Doppler
  • Endoscopic ultrasound

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hepatology
  • Gastroenterology

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