Radiological Assessment of Retroperitoneal Neoplastic Lesions in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The retroperitoneum is an important potential space in the human abdomen. Retroperitoneal (RP) tumours are extremely vast in position, size, rate of growth and in pathological types. They silently grow before giving rise to symptoms or become palpable. Radiology plays a unique role in sustaining the optimum information for the diagnosis of lesions of retroperitoneal space. Computed Tomography (CT) is generally more superior in the diagnosis of retroperitoneal neoplastic lesions in comparison to X-Ray or Ultrasonography (USG) but later are cost-effective and readily available. Aim: To describe the clinical spectrum of retroperitonial neoplastic lesions and also to evaluate the radiographic features of different retroperitoneal neoplastic lesions with various radiological modalities. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 patients from November 2019 to April 2021, in Department of Radiology of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Government Medical College and Civil Hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat. Each patient had undergone CT, USG and X-ray as indicated. Descriptive data was analysed and presented in terms of frequencies and percentages. Results: In this study among 50 patients, males (60%) were found to be affected more than the females (40%) with a male:female ratio of 1.5:1. The most common malignant RP neoplastic lesion was metastatic nodal masses and lymphoma. 41 (82%) of cases were malignant while 9 (18%) were benign neoplasms. The most common benign RP neoplastic lesion was teratoma. The most common presentation in patients with retroperitoneal lesions was pain and lump in the abdomen with abdominal distension. Most of the malignant lesions were of average size more than 10 cm. Conclusion: Most of the retroperitoneal neoplastic lesions were malignant and seen in males. CT, USG and X-ray are helpful in the characterisation and diagnosis of retroperitoneal neoplastic masses.