A Novel Diagnostic Aid for Detection of Intra-Abdominal Adhesions to the Anterior Abdominal Wall Using Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Evaluation of the Preoperative Slide Test in the Prediction of Intra-Abdominal Adhesions: A Single-Center, Double-Blinded, Prospective Observational Study

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the efficacy of the preoperative ultrasonographic sliding sign in predicting intra-abdominal adhesions.

METHODS

This was a single-center, double-blinded, prospective observational study undertaken from March and September 2021 on 110 patients with a history of previous abdominal surgery. All patients who were scheduled for laparoscopy underwent slide test in 5 zones of abdomen: right lower quadrant, left lower quadrant, previous operation site, vesicouterine pouch, and rectovaginal pouch. Adhesions were assessed by the same gynecologic surgeon using ultrasonography before the surgery and by gynecological surgeons during surgery, and by a third gynecologic surgeon to compare the preoperative slide test findings and laparoscopic findings after the surgery.

RESULTS

Seventy-three (66.4%) patients underwent laparoscopic surgery, and 37 (33.6%) patients underwent laparotomy. The mean age of patients was 46.9 ± 1.0 years. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of preoperative ultrasonography in predicting adhesions were 89.5%, 91.7%, 97.5%, and 71.0%, respectively. The accuracy of the slide test was calculated as 90.0%. It was found that as the total number of cesarean sections increased the estimates of vesicouterine adhesions and actual adhesions increased (P = .008). Also, the prediction of intra-abdominal adhesions and actual adhesions significantly increased as the total number of surgical operations increased (P = .002).

CONCLUSIONS

Intra-abdominal adhesions can be detected with the slide test, which is a non-invasive and well-tolerated procedure. Slide test can guide the physician before the elective operation in patients with previous abdominal surgery and may assist in counseling patients.

Quantifiable Measures of Abdominal Wall Motion for Quality Assessment of Cine-MRI Slices in Detection of Abdominal Adhesions

Abdominal adhesions present a diagnostic challenge, and classic imaging modalities can miss their presence. Cine-MRI, which records visceral sliding during patient-controlled breathing, has proven useful in detecting and mapping adhesions. However, patient movements can affect the accuracy of these images, despite there being no standardized algorithm for defining sufficiently high-quality images. This study aims to develop a biomarker for patient movements and determine which patient-related factors influence movement during cine-MRI. Included patients underwent cine-MRI to detect adhesions for chronic abdominal complaints, data were collected from electronic patient files and radiologic reports. Ninety slices of cine-MRI were assessed for quality, using a five-point scale to quantify amplitude, frequency, and slope, from which an image-processing algorithm was developed. The biomarkers closely correlated with qualitative assessments, with an amplitude of 6.5 mm used to distinguish between sufficient and insufficient-quality slices. In multivariable analysis, the amplitude of movement was influenced by age, sex, length, and the presence of a stoma. Unfortunately, no factor was changeable. Strategies for mitigating their impact may be challenging. This study highlights the utility of the developed biomarker in evaluating image quality and providing useful feedback for clinicians. Future studies could improve diagnostic quality by implementing automated quality criteria during cine-MRI.

Difficulty in predicting intra-abdominal adhesion before cesarean section: A case report

Severe adhesions between the bladder and uterus necessitated an atypical incision in the cesarean section of a woman with endometriosis. This could not be predicted with pre-surgery MRI. No methods in the literature are able to predict adhesions with true certainty; it is therefore still difficult to diagnose intra-abdominal adhesions.

Evaluation of the diagnostic potential of trans abdominal ultrasonography in detecting intra-abdominal adhesions: A double-blinded cohort study

Background

Intra-abdominal adhesion is one of the most important complications of abdominopelvic surgery. It increases morbidity and mortality for patients. Although laparoscopy is the gold standard of adhesion diagnosis, it can cause visceral damage during the operation. Therefore, surgeons prefer to use non-invasive methods for planning the operation. We designed this study to evaluate transabdominal ultrasonography ( TAU) accuracy for diagnosing Intra-abdominal Adhesions

Material & methods

This double-blinded cohort study was conducted on 47 patients with previous laparotomy who undergo another surgery. Spontaneous visceral slide (SVS) and induced visceral slide (IVS) were measured during TAU.

Results

The mean age and BMI of 47 patients were 43.21±10.3 and 27.545±5.76. The majority of the patients were female (76%). Mean SVS and IVS in patients with intra-abdominal adhesion were 8.73±1.60 and 44.84±11.60. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of TAU in intra-abdominal diagnosis were 83.33%, 51.72%, 51.72%, 83.33%, 63.83%.

Conclusions

Although TAU is an appropriate method for detecting the intra-abdominal adhesion, it isn't good enough for diagnosing free adhesion area. We recommended further researches with greater sample size and other non-invasive techniques.

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Evaluation of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV for adhesion diagnosis.

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There are not a lot of studies on ultrasonography accuracy before.

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It’s an only double-blinded cohort study.

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Our study refers to high sensitivity and NPV for diagnosing the adhesion.

A Shared Decision Approach to Chronic Abdominal Pain Based on Cine-MRI: A Prospective Cohort Study

OBJECTIVES

Chronic abdominal pain develops in 11-20% of patients undergoing abdominal surgery, partly owing to post-operative adhesions. In this study we evaluate results of a novel diagnostic and therapeutic approach for pain associated with adhesions.

METHODS

Prospective cohort study including patients with a history of abdominal surgery referred to the outpatient clinic of a tertiary referral center for the evaluation of chronic abdominal pain. Subgroups were made based on outcome of adhesion mapping with cine-MRI and shared decision making. In operatively managed cases, anti-adhesion barriers were applied after adhesiolysis. Long-term results for pain were evaluated by a questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 106 patients were recruited. Seventy-nine patients had adhesions on cine-MRI, 45 of whom underwent an operation. Response rate to follow-up questionnaire was 86.8%. In the operative group (Group 1), the number of negative laparoscopies was 3 (6%). After a median of 19 (range 6-47) months follow-up, 80.0% of patients in group 1 reported improvement of pain, compared with 42.9% in patients with adhesions on cine-MRI who declined surgery (group 2), and 26.3% in patients with no adhesions on cine-MRI (group 3), P = 0.002. Consultation of medical specialists was significantly lower in group 1 compared with groups 2 and 3 (35.7 vs. 65.2 vs. 58.8%; P = 0.023).

CONCLUSION

We demonstrate long-term pain relief in two-thirds of patients with chronic pain likely caused by adhesions, using cine-MRI and a shared decision-making process. Long-term improvement of pain was achieved in 80% of patients who underwent surgery with concurrent application of an anti-adhesion barrier.

Laparoscopic Adhesiolysis in Chronic Abdominal Pain: 15-Year Follow-up Study

BACKGROUND/GOAL

Intra-abdominal adhesions are probably underdiagnosed cause for chronic abdominal pain. Our aim was to evaluate late (>10 y) effect of laparoscopic adhesiolysis on chronic abdominal pain.

STUDY

This was a nonrandomized follow-up study of 68 patients (9 males, 59 females) who suffered chronic abdominal pain. The index operation (laparoscopy and adhesiolysis; n=72 patients) was performed during 1997 to 2001. A quality-of-life questionnaire was asked after the mean follow-up time of 15 years. The hospital records of patients, reoperations for chronic abdominal pain, and full medical history were also reviewed.

RESULTS

Patients reported that adhesion-related pain was abolished or diminished in 90% during 15-year follow-up, but still 28 (41%) complained about some abdominal symptom. One third of the patients used pain-relieving medication or proton-pump inhibitors to relieve their symptoms. Furthermore, 46 (68%) patients had contacted medical service for reexamination of abdominal discomfort and 16 (24%) were reoperated because of some abdominal disease. When the patients with dense adhesions versus no or minimal adhesions were compared in the long term, no difference in the response of pain was noticed after 15 years of adhesiolysis.

CONCLUSIONS

In carefully selected patients suffering from chronic abdominal pain, the positive effect of laparoscopic adhesiolysis stands beyond 15 years after the surgery. Although the patients reported relief of pain they still had various abdominal symptoms.

A novel diagnostic aid for intra-abdominal adhesion detection in cine-MRI: pilot study and initial diagnostic impressions

OBJECTIVE

A non-invasive diagnostic technique for abdominal adhesions is not currently available. Capture of abdominal motion due to respiration in cine-MRI has shown promise, but is difficult to interpret. This article explores the value of a complimentary diagnostic aid to facilitate the non-invasive detection of abdominal adhesions using cine-MRI.

METHOD

An image processing technique was developed to quantify the amount of sliding that occurs between the organs of the abdomen and the abdominal wall in sagittal cine-MRI slices. The technique produces a "sheargram" which depicts the amount of sliding which has occurred over 1-3 respiratory cycles. A retrospective cohort of 52 patients, scanned for suspected adhesions, made 281 cine-MRI sagittal slices available for processing. The resulting sheargrams were reported by two operators and compared with expert clinical judgment of the cine-MRI scans.

RESULTS

The sheargram matched clinical judgment in 84% of all sagittal slices and 93-96% of positive adhesions were identified on the sheargram. The sheargram displayed a slight skew towards sensitivity over specificity, with a high positive adhesion detection rate but at the expense of false positives.

CONCLUSION

Good correlation between sheargram and absence/presence of inferred adhesions indicates quantification of sliding motion has potential to aid adhesion detection in cine-MRI.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

This is the first attempt to clinically evaluate a novel image processing technique quantifying the sliding motion of the abdominal contents against the abdominal wall. The results of this pilot study reveal its potential as a diagnostic aid for detection of abdominal adhesions.