An Anatomy And Variation Of Inferior Mesentric Artery In Rectal Cancer By Computed Tomography

BackgroundRectal cancer is a major health problem and is defined as a tumor with its lower edge within15cm from the anal verge, accounts for about a third of all colorectal malignancies and represents40to50%of colorectal cancer. Rectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in theworld. The improvement of computerized Tomography (CT), gave us new possibilities fordiagnosing colorectal cancer. For successful execution of surgical techniques, good diagnosticimaging of the cancer is necessary in order to have a low level of recurrence. For left side coloncancer, the root of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) is usually cut for D3lymph nodedissection. We keep the left colic artery (LCA) intact even in D3dissection, to maintain the bloodsupply of the preserved proximal sigmoid colon. In this study, we have done study on imagebased model obtained from CT.ObjectiveTo study anatomy and variation of inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) for rectal cancer bycomputed tomography (CT)MethodThe study was performed in patients visiting the department of gastric and colorectal surgeryof the first clinical hospital of Jilin university, Changchun from jan.2013to march2013. A totalof16patients with rectal cancer were selected. This is a retrospective analysis as everypatient’s medical record including past and present illness, radiological examinations, treatments,and outcomes are recorded electronically in the hospital computer system PACS(PictureArchiving and Communication system), this system provides valid information for retrospectiveanalysis. All parameters were obtained from CT derived module and were subjected to variousstatistical analysis. ResultsRectal cancer is a major health problem and major cause of morbidity and mortalitythroughout the world. The anatomy and variation of IMA involved in the rectal cancer has beeninvestigated in this study. In total number of cases,11cases (68.75%) presented as common siteof origin of branched artery and5cases (31.25%) presented as uncommon site of origin ofbranched artery. Computed tomography (CT) plays an important role in the management ofcolorectal cancer (CRC). The use of CT as a screening tool for CRC has been validated and isexpected to rise over time.ConclusionThe study of anatomy and variation of IMA and the distribution of its branched arterypreoperatively and is found significant factor for radical resection intraoperatively. Computedtomography (CT) is a very useful tool in identifying the site of distribution of LCA and SA.