[Surgical relevance of diagnostic imaging of abdominal tumors--decision making in pancreatic tumor].

Imaging of tumors of the pancreas may have a series of significant implications for surgical decision making. First of all verification and localization of a suspected tumor is crucial. Later on, accurate staging of local tumor extent and of distant metastases is necessary for evaluating the indications for surgical intervention. If histologic proof of malignancy of a pancreatic lesion is needed, different imaging techniques can be used for percutaneous biopsy of the tumor. Finally imaging is required in patients with a pancreatic tumor if an obstruction of the common bile duct is treated with palliative intent by endoscopy or transhepatic intervention. A rational and efficient selection from all the imaging techniques currently available requires a clear-cut definition of what is needed for surgical decision making in each individual case. Thereby one has to take into account whether the tumor arises from the exocrine or from the endocrine tissue of the pancreas.