EAES Academy

When planning an operation, surgeons usually rely on traditional 2D imaging. Colon neoplastic lesions are not always easy to locate macroscopically during surgery. The 3D virtual model may allow the surgeon to better visualize the anatomy. In this study we analyze and discuss the clinical impact of using such 3d models in colorectal surgery. This is a monocentric prospective observational pilot study including 14 consecutive patients who presented colorectal lesions with surgical indication. A staging CT/MRI scan and a colonoscopy were performed on each patient. CT scans and endoscopic informations were provided to obtain a 3D rendering (Figure 1). The 2D images were shown to the surgeon performing the operation, while the 3D reconstruction to a second surgeon. Both of them had to locate the lesion and in the study the answers we compared. Lesions’ localization based on the 3D models and the histopathological findings had a 100% concordance, in contrast to conventional 2D CT scans which cannot detect the lesion in two patients. The 3D model reconstruction allowed an excellent concordance correlation between the estimated and the real lesion locations, allowing the surgeon to correctly plan the procedure with excellent results. In addition, the use of the 3D models and of the preoperative plans during the actual surgical procedures shall be investigated, as this information has the potential to enable intuitive intraoperative guidance (e.g. based on AR/VR technologies). These findings shall be validated by a larger clinical study in the future.