Endoscopic ultrasound: what is it and when should it be used?

Abstract

-Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an increasingly available diagnostic and therapeutic tool used within the UK. It has wide applications both in the gastrointestinal tract and mediastinum with its current main uses being in the staging of luminal malignancies and assessment of pancreatic and subepithelial lesions. The emergence of linear EUS has opened up new therapeutic avenues with fine needle aspiration, trucut biopsies, coeliac plexus blocks and transmural pseudocyst drainage all now possible. Future developments include localised brachytherapy/chemotherapy and alcohol ablation of unresectable pancreatic malignancies and EUSguided endoscopic surgery.

Unveiling the potential of galectin-3 as a diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer: a review

“…MRI offers enhanced soft tissue visualisation, enabling better characterisation of pancreatic lesions 6 . EUS, which involves using an endoscope with an ultrasound probe, provides high-resolution imaging of the pancreas, facilitating the detection and localisation of tumours 35 .…”

Endoscopic ultrasound and pancreatic applications: what the radiologist needs to know

“…1). In addition, the image quality can be further improved by the removal of air, and instillation of water, into the gut lumen [2,3].…”

“…1). In particular, the linear array endoscope is thought to be technically more difficult for the endoscopist to maneuver, but is of great value during EUSguided FNA, allowing the visualization of the needle along its entire length [2,3]. High frequency probes can also be used which are inserted through the biopsy channel of a regular endoscope.…”

Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration in Hollow Viscus Cancer

“…Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is the best modality for the delineation of gut wall layers and adjacent structures 1. For that reason, EUS is well utilized for the evaluation of invasion depth of hollow viscus cancer (T staging).…”

“…Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is the best modality for the delineation of gut wall layers and adjacent structures. 1 For that reason, EUS is well utilized for the evaluation of invasion depth of hollow viscus cancer (T staging). In addition, EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is a minimally invasive, highly accurate, and safe procedure for the diagnosis of lymph node (LN) metastasis (N staging).…”