An ultrasound whole abdomen scan is an imaging technique that uses high frequency sound waves to visualise, diagnose and determine certain problems related to various organs and structures present in the abdomen. In this blog...
An Abdominal ultrasound is a diagnostic imaging technique that uses sound waves of high frequency which helps to crest pictures of the internal organs and blood vessels of your body (abdomen). Doctors call Ultrasound a sonogram also . The ultrasound or USG creates and displays real-time pictures of the internals of the body which help in evaluating and diagnosing the pertaining conditions efficiently and effectively.
What Are the Uses of Ultrasound Abdomen?
An ultrasound scan can be used to detect several reasons such as
-
Pregnancy ultrasound or prenatal ultrasound
- To detect the growth of the foetus
- To determine any developmental abnormality in the child
- For routine checkups during pregnancy
-
Digestive system ultrasound scan can be used to visualise
- Liver
- Pancreas
- Gallbladder
- Duodenum
-
Abdominal ultrasound can also examine
Abdominal ultrasound scans can be used to determine the cause of stomach pain which could be
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Kidney stones
- Gallstones
- Bladder stones
- Cholecystitis
- Cancer of kidney
- Kidney diseases
- Pancreatitis
- Enlarged spleen
- Abdominal cysts
- Tumours
- Liver diseases
- Fatty liver disease
- Certain types of cancer such as pancreatic cancer
- Hernia
- Blood clot
- Enlarged organs such as liver, spleen, kidney
- Fluid in abdominal cavity
- Appendicitis
- Crohn's disease (inflammation of intestine)
- Unexplained weight loss
What is the Cost of Abdominal Ultrasound Scan?
The price of an ultrasound scan generally depends on various factors such as the availability of the type of ultrasound scan you need at the centre that you have chosen. It also depends on the location or the place where you reside. It may also vary from one diagnostic centre to another. Price of USG scan also depends and varies according to the fee of the technician and the doctor performing the scan and reading the scan. The area which is to be examined also determines the price of a sonography scan. Certain special types of ultrasound scans such as echocardiograms are a little more expensive than the standard ultrasound scans. Generally a standard ultrasound scan at ganesh diagnostic and imaging centre will cost you around 1500-3000 INR. although we at ganesh diagnostic and imaging centre run certain offers at certain times which makes the affordability of an ultrasound scan more.
What is the General Procedure for an Ultrasound Scan?
- Before the scan, you will be asked to wear a hospital gown if needed and will be asked to take off all of your jewellery items that may interfere with the scan.
- You will be asked to lie on a scan table
- Then the doctor or technologist will apply a water soluble ultrasound gel.
- The ultrasound gel prevents any air pockets to form between the area being examined and the transducer
- Th transducer is a wand held by the technologist which is run over the body to record the internal organs of the body
- The transducer sends high frequency sound waves to your body which are very high pitched and cannot be heard by human beings.
- These waves hit your body organs and bounce back which are then collected by the transducer
- The collected signals are catched by the transducer and sent to the computer
- The computer then displays real-time images of the organs
- Once the scan is done, the technologist wipes off the excessive gel from your body.
There are certain factors that might interfere with the ultrasound scan resultant images which can be
- Severe obesity
- Food in stomach
- Leftover barium in the stomach due to previous barium studies
- Excessive intestinal gas
What Are the Risks of an Ultrasound?
An abdominal ultrasound poses no risks as it doesn't use any ionising radiation, unlike other scan techniques such as an x-ray, CT scan or others. Doctors always try to opt for a safe option with minimum risks.
Due to its safe nature, it is used as a prenatal checkup tool during pregnancy to keep monitoring the growth and development of the child, which can effectively help in the diagnosis of any birth defects.
Ultrasound scan is additionally a safe, non-invasive and painless procedure which might give certain temporary discomfort due to the transducer pressing over your full bladder.
