Abdominal Ultrasound?

Question

I just wanted to know if anyone knows what they look for in an abdominal ultrasound. I know liver,spleen,pancreas,gallbladder but do they also look for the intestines, kidneys, appendix etc? If anyone knows, let me know. Thanks

Thanks. The doctor is mainly looking for the live since last ultrasound it show liver enlargement. All the tests for the liver was normal and he felt the size of the liver and it was normal. He just wants a repeat of the test.

Answer 1

I don't know if you are male or female but I am a female and I have had many Abdominal Ultrasounds. What an ultrasound is (don't worry it will be painless) is just sound waves bouncing off your internal organs (and anything that shouldn't be there) and it produces an image on a screen and they examine ALL of your abdomen to see where the problem may lie. Usually, well at least in my case, it was to detect intestinal blockage, kidney stones, and cysts (pockets of fluid) If there is anything there, they will see it. They take many pictures during an ultrasound of every angle of your abdomen, so don't worry they won't miss anything. It's a painless process so don't worry about that either. If you have any pain in any specific areas, make sure to tell the person giving you the ultrasound where that pain is exactly. he or she will probably ask you anyway though. I hope I was of some help to you.

Answer 2

What abdominal ultrasounds are commonly used for:

liver
spleen
kidneys and bladder
looking for gallbladder stones
looking for appendicitis
bleeding in the peritoneum
looking for ovarian cysts, tumors, etc
pregnancy

What abdominal ultrasounds are less commonly used for:

looking at blood flow in the aorta and its major branches
pancreas (usually only useful for finding pseudocyst)
looking for pyloric stenosis (in children)
looking for intussusception (in children)
looking for necrotizing enterocolitis (in premature infants)

What abdominal ultrasounds are not good for:

stomach
intestines (except isolated cases listed above)
intraabdominal lymph node evaluation

Answer 3

Yes, they can and will see for these organs too, esp. kidneys, appendix... If the doctor who has referred the patient asks for something specific, they will look carefully at that.