What can an abdominal ultrasound reveal?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Lam Thi Kim Chi - Radiographer - Department of Diagnostic Imaging - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.
When you want to detect a patient's health problem, doctors often perform an examination and do basic tests, including abdominal ultrasound. This is a method of obtaining images in real time, through specialized equipment to observe the abdomen. So what is an abdominal ultrasound to do, what disease can an abdominal ultrasound detect?

1. Abdominal ultrasound for what?

Abdominal ultrasound is a method of examination, examination and assessment of lesions in abdominal organs such as liver, bile, kidney, bladder, spleen, pancreas, uterus and ovaries in women, and prostate in women. This is one of the paraclinical tests used to check the health that we should periodically conduct to detect and screen for diseases.

2. What do abdominal ultrasound results show?

What disease can be detected by abdominal ultrasound is a question of many patients when there is an indication or a need for examination. In addition to surveying the size, shape, structure... of the abdominal organs, here are some diseases that ultrasound can help doctors diagnose effectively:
Hepatobiliary disease: fatty liver , cirrhosis, liver and biliary tract tumors, cholecystitis, gallstones... Digestive system diseases: acute enteritis, appendicitis, gastrointestinal tumors, diverticulitis, .. Diseases of the pancreas: pancreatic stones, pancreatitis, tumors in the pancreas... Renal - urological diseases: stones of the urinary system (kidneys, ureters, bladder), kidney tumors, hydronephrosis, bladder tumors ureter, ureter. Genitourinary system diseases: uterine fibroids, ovarian tumors, prostate tumors... Other diseases: Abdominal ultrasound also detects many other diseases such as abdominal aortic aneurysm, peritoneal effusion. , evaluate fluid in the peritoneal cavity, pleural space, and pericardium.

3. When to perform abdominal ultrasound?

Abdominal ultrasound when there are symptoms such as: persistent abdominal pain, palpable or suspected tumor, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, digestive disorders or abdominal ultrasound for routine health check. Note that when there is a skin or soft tissue infection in the abdomen, the area where the gel is applied for ultrasound, it is necessary to limit the ultrasound.

4. Note when going for abdominal ultrasound

Usually, ultrasound techniques in other areas can be performed immediately without preparation (ultrasound of the heart, blood vessels, thyroid, face and neck, eyes, mammary glands, musculoskeletal software...) . However, in the case of abdominal ultrasound, if not prepared in advance, it will make the examination take a long time, have to repeat many times, creating an uncomfortable feeling for both the doctor and the patient, so the patient should be careful. :
When doing an abdominal ultrasound, the patient should wear comfortable clothes that can be easily performed. The patient will lie on his or her back, pull the shirt up to chest level, and pull the pants low to the pubic bone. Therefore, women going for abdominal ultrasound should not wear skirts. The doctor will apply the gel to the abdomen, spread it evenly and place the ultrasound transducer probe on the abdomen. Before the abdominal ultrasound, the patient should try to hold his urine, drink a lot of water to make the ultrasound easier for the doctor and give accurate results. Do not try to drink too much water at once, as this will cause the stomach to dilate, affecting the ultrasound results. Ultrasound examination of the gallbladder: fast for > 6 hours before the ultrasound because after eating, the gallbladder will shrink, difficult to examine and may miss small lesions. Transvaginal transvaginal ultrasound (only performed in sexually active women): the patient must empty their bladder so that there is no urine left before the ultrasound. There are many factors affecting ultrasound quality such as: obesity, gastric contents and intestinal air. Therefore, in order for the abdominal ultrasound process to obtain accurate results, the patient should eat light meals, should eat easily digestible foods, limit eating foods that are difficult to digest, greasy and easy to fill the abdomen. It is recommended to have an ultrasound in the morning because sleeping overnight will help the previous meal to be fully digested, and an empty stomach will help the ultrasound results be more accurate. The doctor will use a transducer device to expose, emit high-frequency sound waves and record images of abdominal ultrasound results on the display screen. Ultrasound is not X-ray, does not use ionizing radiation, so it is quite safe for humans. Abdominal ultrasound is one of the indispensable checks in the General Health Checkup packages at Vinmec International General Hospital. The ultrasound process is carefully performed by experienced and highly qualified sonographers, radiologists, modern ultrasound systems, high technology, providing detailed and clear images. , detects very small irregular images. Early detection of disease and signs of disease will greatly help the treatment process later.
MSc Doctor Lam Thi Kim Chi graduated with a Master's degree in Radiology - Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy and has over 6 years of experience as a radiologist. Dr. Chi used to work at Da Nang Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital before working as a radiologist at Vinmec Danang International General Hospital as it is today.

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