The Purpose of an Abdominal Ultrasound

During special cases, a special kind of sonography is ordered for by the physician to evaluate and analyze a particular organ, such as an abdominal ultrasound (AU). An abdominal ultrasound is a specialized category of ultrasound that utilizes mirrored high frequency sound waves to provide an image of the underlying tissues and other anatomical structures in the abdominal cavity. An AU can test a number of things.

• An AU can be used to check the human aorta, which happens to be the most famous blood vessel in the human body. This arterial blood vessel goes down the rear of the chest area and the abdominal cavity and supplies blood to the lower part of the body including lower extremities
• The pancreas can also be analyzed by an ultrasound and so are the kidneys. Kidneys are responsible for the excretion of human waste from the body and the production of urine while the pancreas, which is located in the upper abdominal cavity, produce hormones that help breakdown food particles.
• To scan the liver — a dome-shaped organ found under the rib cage and on the right hand side of the abdominal cavity. This body part creates bile, which stores sugar, metabolizes fats as well as other excretory products inside the human body
• The gallbladder can also be analyzed using an ultrasound, a pouch-like organ found under the liver. The gallbladder has bile which, when you eat something, it comprises, transmits bile inside the bowels which helps break down food as well as absorb fat-soluble nutrients
• It can be used to analyze the spleen, a very delicate rounded body organ that helps fight infectious conditions as well as filtering old red blood cells. It is located at the left hand side of the abdomen, slightly behind the lower left rib

In-depth look at Abdominal Ultrasound

An AU can be performed by a doctor who specializes in executing and analyzing imaging screens, or by an ultrasonographer. It is mostly done in an ultrasound room in a hospital or clinic setting. You will be expected to take off all jewelry and all or part of your clothing, depending on the part of the body being scanned. You will be asked to lie on your side or back on a cushioned examination table, some gel will be applied on you and a transducer will be run over the gel back and forth.

An image of the underlying body parts and vasculature can be seen on a TV monitor. Note that you may be requested to change positions so that more images of the same can be captured. During the procedure, you need to lie very still, and might even be requested to hold your breath for a few seconds during the screening. This will help the sonographer capture clearer images and view anatomical structures such as the bile ducts more clearly.

Holding the breath for a few seconds also exposes the liver and spleen as they tend to get hidden by the lower ribs, which can make the work of evaluating the organs a bit difficult. A general abdominal ultrasound would take around 30-60 minutes.