The use of intraoperative sonography in endocrine tumors of the pancreas

Intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) was performed in 21 patients with 22 endocrine tumors of the pancreas. Seventeen patients suffered from an organic hyperinsulinism, 4 had Zollinger-EUison syndrome. One patient with an insulinoma had a pancreatic-polypeptide-producing adenoma (PPoma) as a second tumor. Fifteen of the insulinomas investigated by IOUS were visible and palpable. In 2 patients no tumor was found during initial operation. At reoperation 1 tumor was detected by IOUS only, the reoperation in the other patient is planned. The PPoma was an incidental finding during IOUS.