Abdominal ultrasonography (synonyms: transabdominal sonography; transabdominal sonography; abdominal sonography; abdominal sonography) is the ultrasound examination of the abdominal organs (organs of the abdominal cavity).
Abdominal sonography primarily examines the following organs:
- Liver and gall bladder
- Pancreas
- Kidneys and adrenal glands
- Aorta (main artery) and outgoing great vessels.
- Spleen
- Urinary bladder
- Lymph nodes
Abdominal ultrasonography is now routinely used for many different indications because it is a rapid and highly informative diagnostic procedure.
Indications (areas of application)
- Acute abdomen – acute abdominal pain associated primarily with abdominal guarding.
- Liver diseases such as hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), cirrhosis, metastases (daughter tumors), cysts.
- Diseases of the biliary system such as cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation) or cholestasis (bile stasis).
- Diseases of the hematopoietic system such as leukemia (blood cancer).
- Lymph node diseases such as Hodgkin’s disease
- Changes in the pancreas such as pancreatic cancer (pancreatic cancer).
- Changes in the spleen (size?; portal hypertension, lymphoma).
- Diseases of the kidneys such as pyelonephritis (inflammation of the renal pelvis) or urinary retention in the kidneys, renal tumors or cysts or kidney stones.
- Diseases of the urinary bladder such as urinary bladder stones or tumors; residual urine formation.
- Diseases of the reproductive organs [prostate (prostate gland), seminal vesicles].
- Diseases of the blood vessels such as atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries) or aneurysm formation (bulging of the vessel wall).
Before the examination
- One should avoid eating flatulent foods for the examination, if possible, so as not to negatively affect the image quality. Further preparations are usually not necessary.
The procedure
Abdominal ultrasonography is one of the non-invasive, that is, non-penetrating, diagnostic procedures.
In this form of examination, ultrasound waves that are reflected differently from the different structures of the body (called echo) are used to visualize the area to be examined in shades of gray. Different methods can be distinguished, such as the A and B modes. The A (amplitude) mode is a one-dimensional representation of the echo, while the B (brightness) mode is a two-dimensional representation of the echo. The B-mode is the method used in abdominal sonography.
The examination usually takes only a few minutes and is performed while the patient is lying down.
The procedures, the measurement data, and their interpretation are presented in detail in the individual organ sonographies (organ ultrasound); see:
- Abdominal sonography in gravidity.
- Liver sonography (ultrasound examination of the liver).
- Renal sonography (ultrasound examination of the kidneys).
- Pancreatic sonography (ultrasound examination of the pancreas).
- Residual urine determination by ultrasound
- Sonography of the renal arteries (ultrasound of the renal arteries).
