Endoscopic ultrasound and paracentesis in the evaluation of small volume ascites in patients with intra-abdominal malignancies

Table 1 Findings from endoscopic ultrasound guided paracentesis in patients found to have small volume ascites without known intra-abdominal malignancy n (%)

Ref.	Number patients	Benign	Malignant	Comment
Allah et al[11]	100	36 (58)	26 (42)	Some patients unable to obtain sufficient sample for cytology. Tuberculosis most common benign etiology
Rana et al[12]	12	2 (17)	10 (83)	Peritoneal nodules. Tuberculosis most common benign etiology
Wardeh et al[10]	101	74 (73)	27 (27)	Twenty-one adenocarcinoma, 1 metastatic small-cell carcinoma of the lung, 1 large-cell lymphoma, 3 adenocarcinoma, 1 plasmacytoma

Table 2 Findings from endoscopic ultrasound guided paracentesis in patients found to have small volume ascites with known primary intra-abdominal malignancies n (%)

Ref.	Primary site	Number with ascites	Benign	Malignant	Comment
Repiso et al[13]	Gastric	(21)	6 (29)	15 (71)	7/79 patients without ascites had carcinomatosis
Sultan et al[14]	Gastric	21 (1.8)	10 (10)	11 (51)
Twine et al[15]	Esophageal	49 (9)		49 (100)	Survival in patients with ascites or effusion was significantly shorter when compared with patients without, P = 0.001
Mrzljak et al[16]	Hepatocellular	27	9 (33)	18 (67)
Schmidt et al[17]	Pancreatic	23 (16)	19 (82)	4 (18)
Lee et al[18]	Gastric	32	23 (72)	9 (28)	Positive ascites did not influence the survival outcomes of gastric cancer without peritoneal carcinomatosis.
Lee et al[4]	Gastric	93 (37)	56 (59)	37 (41)	76% of patients with ascites had peritoneal metastases