ABDOMINAL IMAGING REVIEW

Preoperative imaging for staging of rectal cancer has become an important aspect of current approach to rectal cancer man-agement, because it helps to select suitable patients for neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and determine the appropriate surgical technique. Imaging modalities such as endoscopic ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic reso-nance imaging (MRI) play an important role in assessing the depth of tumor penetration, lymph node involvement, me-sorectal fascia and anal sphincter invasion, and presence of dis-tant metastatic diseases. Currently, there is no consensus on a preferred imaging technique for preoperative staging of rectal cancer. However, high-resolution phased-array MRI is recom-mended as a standard imaging modality for preoperative lo-cal staging of rectal cancer, with excellent soft tissue contrast