[Rectal endosonography in differential diagnosis of surgical diseases of the pelvis].

Rectal endosonography was performed in 35 patients in whom a pathologic process in the pelvis was suspected. Pathologic findings were shown in various cases: abscess, tumours, ascites. It was shown that rectal endosonography can provide information that is not revealed by such established examinations as abdominal sonography and computed tomography. We recommend that the indications for transrectal endosonography can be extended beyond the established use in rectal tumours and diseases of the pelvic floor. Further systematic examinations are required.