湯浅 肇¹, 吉田 脩一¹, 若林 宏和¹, 伊東 徹², 橘 尚吾³, 浅野 耕吉⁴

Hajime YUASA¹, Shuuiti YOSHIDA¹, Hirokazu WAKABAYASHI¹, Toru ITOH², Shogo TATIBANA³, Khokiti ASANO⁴

¹天竜厚生会診療所内科, ²天竜厚生会診療所放射線科, ³錦野クリニック外科, ⁴浅野医院

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Tenryu Kouseikai Clinic, ²Department of Radiology, Tenryu Kouseikai Clinic, ³Department of Surgery, Nishikino Clinic, ⁴Department of Internal Medicine, Asano Clinic

キーワード : colonic polyp, sonography

Ultrasonography is widely recognized for its usefulness in diagnosing inflammatory bowel diseases and intestinal diseases accompanied by ulcers. Many studies have shown the usefulness of ultrasound for detecting intestinal tumors with the pseudokidney sign and other advanced colon cancers. Through ordinary ultrasound screening of the abdomen, we were able to find small colonic polyps less than 2 cm in diameter. We first observed the entire colon by longitudinal scanning and then observed it transversely from the ileocecum through the rectum. We then tried to observe the whole bowel wall by probe compression to extrude the intraluminal air. Strongly contrasted hypoechoic masses surrounded by highly brightened marginal echoes caused by attached fecal liquid were sought. Lesions containing color Doppler signals were classified as polyps. As a result, ten of 1616 subjects examined were found to have colonic polyps, 3 of which were advanced colon cancer with circumferential tumors greater than 3 cm in diameter; the other 7 cases had small polyps less than 2 cm (range, 9 mm to 20 mm) in diameter. Ultrasonographic examination was shown to be useful in finding colonic polyps less than 2 cm in diameter.