Abdominal
Abdominal Sonotec Imaging
Ultrasound is, in most cases, the first imaging technique used to diagnose and characterize abdominal pathology. A complete abdominal ultrasound examines the Liver, Pancreas, Gallbladder, Kidneys, Spleen, Bladder, & Abdominal blood vessels. such as the inferior vena cava and the aorta. A right upper quadrant ultrasound examines three organs of the digestive system, the Liver, Pancreas, & Gallbladder.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR ABDOMINAL ULTRASOUND
Adults
Do not eat or drink eight hours before the exam.
Children
Do not eat or drink four hours before study or skip one meal.
Medications
Take medications with a small sip of water.
Diabetic
If you are diabetic, please take your insulin.
INDICATIONS FOR ABDOMINAL ULTRASOUND
- Abdominal, flank, and/or back pain.
- Signs or symptoms that may be referred from the abdominal and/or retroperitoneal regions, such as jaundice or hematuria.
- Palpable abnormalities, such as an abdominal mass or organomegaly.
- Abnormal laboratory values or abnormal findings on other imaging examinations suggestive of abdominal and/or retroperitoneal pathology.
- Follow-up of known or suspected abnormalities in the abdomen and/or retroperitoneum.
- Evaluation of cirrhosis, portal hypertension, and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) stents; screening for hepatoma; and evaluation of the liver in conjunction with liver elastography.
- Abdominal trauma.
- Search for metastatic disease or an occult primary neoplasm.
- Evaluation of urinary tract infection and hydronephrosis.
- Search for the presence of free or loculated peritoneal and/or retroperitoneal fluid.
- Evaluation of suspected congenital abnormalities.
- Evaluation of suspected hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, intussusception, necrotizing enterocolitis, or any other bowel abnormalities.
- Pretransplantation and posttransplantation evaluation.
- Planning for and guiding an invasive procedure.
- Evaluation of uncontrolled hypertension and suspected renal artery stenosis.
What Ultrasound Can Determine
- Aortic Aneurysm
- Atherosclerosis
- Ascites
- Gallstones
- Cholecystitis
- Kidney Stones
- Hydronephrosis
- Mass or Cyst of Abdominal Organs
- Pancreatitis
- Spleen Enlargement
- Liver Enlargement
- Cirrhosis
- Fatty Liver Disease
- Intussusception
- Pyloric Stenosis
