Intralaparoscopic ultrasound and Doppler sonography in urology

Common practice with intraoperative sonography during open surgery has demonstrated that ultrasounds supply important information that can help the urologist in decision making; in addition, the growing popularity of laparoscopy has underscored the importance of laparoscopic ultrasonography. Laparoscopic ultrasound combines the advantage of diagnostic laparoscopy and intraoperative contact ultrasonography. The authors report their experience with intralaparoscopic ultrasonography using a 7.5-MHz transesophageal probe in several paradigmatic urologic applications, in which intraoperative ultrasonography was employed to provide anatomical information, to supply efficiency in confirming and excluding anticipated or unexpected pathology, and to solve diagnostic problems using high-resolution, real-time, B-mode ultrasound. Intralaparoscopic ultrasound proves to be a simple, efficient procedure that provides useful information in order to help the urologist in intraoperative decision making.