Why do you need preparation for an abdominal ultrasound and how to do it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you come to the examination without preparation, its result will not always help to make a diagnosis.

During an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, the Abdominal ultrasound examines the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, stomach, intestines, kidneys and vessels located in the abdomen.

Why do you need preparation for an abdominal ultrasound

The ultrasound device Ultrasound - Abdomen works on the principle of an echo sounder. The transducer in the doctor's hand emits ultrasonic waves that cannot be heard. They are undergoing the Possibilities of Ultrasound in Perioperative Medicine. A Tribute to Fashion or a Need for Clinical Research for a Surgeon? through fabrics, reflected from dense structures and scattered where there is air. Waves that have returned back to the sensor are displayed as light spots on the screen, and those that have scattered are shown in black.

The abdominal organs are different in structure. For example, the spleen and pancreas, liver and kidneys do not have a cavity inside and are called parenchymal. They do not collect air, which can distort the image. The state of these organs is not affected by whether a person has eaten recently.

The stomach and intestines are organs with a large internal cavity. It is filled with food, liquids drunk and gases that a person swallows with food or produces during digestion. Clean water in the digestive tract will not affect the ultrasound result, and air will interfere with the examination. From it, the intestinal loops swell, displace or close other organs and vessels, such as the pancreas, kidneys or aorta. Therefore, the doctor will see blackness on the screen instead.

The condition of the gallbladder also depends on food intake. Normally, it accumulates bile, and after eating, Gallstones Without Symptoms Don’t Require Treatment is emptied, and its walls collapse. It is difficult to examine them in this form on an ultrasound scan.

How to prepare for an abdominal ultrasound

Preparation for ultrasound of the abdominal cavity takes 1-2 days. At this time, you need to change the diet so that food does not cause increased gas formation. Therefore, skip the following Intestinal gas products:

• legumes - peas, beans and lentils;
• vegetables - any types of cabbage, onions;
• milk, honey;
• sorbitol sweets - chewing gum, some sweets;
• fruits - apples, pears, grapes;
• carbonated drinks and beer.

In order to fill the gallbladder as much as possible, fatty foods are not recommended in the evening of Ultrasound - Abdomen on the eve of an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity.

For a successful examination, it is necessary that from the last meal to the ultrasound, Abdominal ultrasound is 8–12 hours. Therefore, if you are booked for 8-9 in the morning, try not to eat anything after 12 at night.

They take a clean sheet or towel with them for ultrasound to cover the couch. But many clinics give a disposable diaper, which is included in the cost of the examination.

When an abdominal ultrasound is performed without preparation

Ultrasound is often used for emergency diagnostics, when the doctor must quickly prescribe the treatment on which the patient's life depends. There is no preparation time in these cases:

• Sharp abdominal pain. An ultrasound will help locate appendicitis. Appendectomy: Surgery to remove the appendix, Cholecystitis, or Kidney stones in the kidney.
• Abdominal trauma. The study helps detect bleeding or rupture of Ruptured spleen organs.
• Internal bleeding. For example Esophageal varices, for esophageal varicose veins.