Value of preoperative ultrasound examination in the selection of women with adnexal masses for laparoscopic surgery

Objectives To assess the value of preoperative ultrasound examination in predicting the feasibility of intermediate‐level laparoscopic surgery for benign adnexal masses. Methods Symptomatic women with a clinical or ultrasound diagnosis of adnexal mass were offered a detailed transvaginal ultrasound scan in order to assess the feasibility of laparoscopic cystectomy/oophorectomy. In all cases an attempt was made to establish a likely histological diagnosis using the pattern recognition method. The selection criteria for laparoscopic surgery were: no ultrasound features suggestive of ovarian cancer, predominantly cystic lesion with no solid foci > 5 cm in mean diameter, no evidence of severe pelvic endometriosis or severe pelvic adhesions and dermoid cyst < 10 cm in mean diameter. Laparoscopic surgery was classified as successful if the mass was removed completely without resorting to a laparotomy. Results One hundred and forty‐three women were diagnosed with a total of 162 adnexal cysts. The final dataset consisted of 137 women (with 153 lesions), 113 (82.5%) of whom were selected for laparoscopy and 24 (17.5%) for laparotomy. On histological examination 152 (99.3%) cysts were benign and the remaining one (0.7%) was borderline. The operation was successfully completed laparoscopically in 107/113 (94.7%) cases. The preoperative ultrasound assessment predicted the successful outcome of laparoscopic surgery with a sensitivity of 98% (95% CI, 94–99%), specificity of 79% (95% CI, 60–90%), positive predictive value of 95% (95% CI, 89–98%), positive likelihood ratio of 4.58 (95% CI, 2.25–9.32) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.02 (95% CI, 0.01–0.09). Conclusions A detailed preoperative transvaginal ultrasound examination is a helpful tool for assessing the feasibility of intermediate‐level laparoscopic surgery in women with benign adnexal lesions. Copyright © 2007 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.