Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20464422›Full record

ArticleSurgical endoscopy2010

The learning curve for endorectal ultrasonography in rectal cancer staging.

Jimmy C M Li, Shirley Y W Liu, Anthony W I Lo, Sophie S F Hon, Simon S M Ng, Janet F Y Lee, Ka Lau Leung

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jimmy C M LiDepartment of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR, China. jimmylicm@surgery.cuhk.edu.hk
Shirley Y W Liu
Anthony W I Lo
Sophie S F Hon
Simon S M Ng
Janet F Y Lee
Ka Lau Leung
Prince of Wales Hospital · CNChinese University of Hong Kong · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEndorectal ultrasound (ERUS) is an emerging technique for preoperative rectal cancer staging. It is an operator-dependent examination with accuracy closely related to endosonographer experience. In this study, we prospectively analyzed our results of ERUS staging for rectal cancer, aiming to determine its accuracy and to define the learning curve of the procedure.

methodsBetween July 2007 and August 2009, consecutive patients with rectal cancer were recruited for preoperative ERUS staging performed by a single colorectal surgeon. We compared results of ERUS tumor (uT) and nodal (uN) staging with pathological staging of surgical specimens in patients who had surgery without neoadjuvant chemoradiation. To evaluate the learning-curve effect on ERUS, patients were divided into two equal halves for analysis (early group and late group).

resultsIn the 26-month study period, 50 patients (36 males) with median age of 67 years (range 47-89 years) underwent ERUS staging. The overall accuracy rates of uT and uN staging were 86 and 66%. For uT staging, 10% of tumors were overstaged and 4% were understaged. For uN staging, 22% of patients were overstaged and 12% were understaged. With experience accumulation from early group to late group, accuracy improvement was observed in uN staging (52 vs. 80%, P = 0.037), while the accuracy rate remained consistently high in uT staging (84 vs. 88%, P = 1.0).

conclusionsERUS was accurate in preoperative staging of rectal cancer. It was an easy-to-learn procedure for accurate tumor staging, but considerable experience was required to attain accuracy for nodal staging.

Indexed as

EndosonographyLearning CurveAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingProspective StudiesRectal Neoplasms

Identifiers

PMID20464422
OpenAlexW2025539682

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.