Rectal balloon for CT of rectal cancer

The use of a balloon catheter to distend the rectum for pelvic CT in patients with rectal cancer is described. The 20-cm long balloon, inserted over a 12F catheter and inflated with 180-200 ml of water, is simple to use, well tolerated by patients and allows high-quality CT scans. Preliminary results of the presurgical staging of rectal cancer by CT with rectal balloon in a series of 15 patients show a high accuracy when comapred with the pathological findings: involvement of perirectal nodes and adjacent structures was correctly identified in all cases, while CT overestimated the invasion of perirectal fat in two cases, due to the impossibility of distinguishing neoplastic from inflammatorry tissue. The operability statement (site and dimensions of the tumour) allowed correct surgical planning in all cases.