Role of multidetector computed tomography in evaluation of intestinal diseases in adults

Abstract

Introduction Many diseases affect the intestine and need dedicated evaluation and proper characterization by continuous advances in multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) techniques. Objective To emphasize the role of MDCT in evaluation of different intestinal disorders in adults. Patients and methods An MDCT was performed on patients referred to the Radiology Department for diagnosis of suspected intestinal diseases at Zahra Hospital and private radiology centers from September 2018 to September 2020. Patients’ selection was based on the need for evaluation of suspected intestinal diseases in adults that were not precisely diagnosed. We used a 128-GE MDCT and 160-Toshiba MDCT. Results A total of 92 patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 47.71±15.66 years, and 67.4% were males. Abdominal pain represented the highest distribution (58.7%) of clinical presentation, whereas abdominal trauma and heart burn represented the lowest distribution (1.1%). Cases with malignancy have the highest distribution of pathological abnormalities (28%), whereas cases with intestinal ischemia have the lowest distribution (1.1%). The most common site for intestinal lesion was large intestine (71.7%), whereas lesions of both small and large intestine represented lowest distribution (8.7%). In addition, 95.7% of the cases had intestinal wall thickening. White pattern represented the highest distribution of enhancement (43.5%), whereas homogenous pattern represented lowest distribution (3.3%) (P<0.05). Besides, segmental pattern represented the highest distribution of large-bowel extension (33.75%), and diffuse pattern represented lowest distribution (23.9%). Conclusion Our results showed MDCT is an accurate and sensitive tool that aids in the diagnosis of a wide range of intestinal diseases.