Your doctor has made an ultrasound appointment for you in the abdominal cavity, and there are several reasons why ultrasound is an optional exam - the “gold standard.” You may have pain under your ribs, and you or your doctor suspect gallstones or inflammation of the pancreas. You may have hepatitis C. Or you may have pain on the underside (side), and your doctor wants to check for kidney stones.
"Gepar" is an old Greek word for liver; "Hepatitis" means inflammation of the liver (irritation and swelling). "Pancreatitis" means inflammation of the pancreas. An ultrasound is better than an x-ray, CT scan, or MRI to check the gallbladder, and also many times for the liver, pancreas, and kidneys.
Hepatitis C can be controlled, and regular (or “serial”) ultrasounds help to achieve this. You can join your medical team, protecting your health, coming to your appointment on an ultrasound to monitor changes in the liver and "get ahead of the game."
So you wonder what that is?
Ultrasound does not use radiation, but instead uses sound waves too high to hear (this is the “ultra” part). The technologist moves a small probe over your upper abdomen; sound waves interact with the tissues of organs, visually reproducing on the screen what they encounter in the body. Areas in the image appear bright or dark. These images are an echo image that an ultrasound does when it passes through your tissue harmlessly. Negative effects of ultrasound on the frequencies used in abdominal examinations have not been demonstrated; Your technologist has been thoroughly trained to keep you safe. The small probe does not hurt, as it slides smoothly over your skin. Your technologist will have an aseptic gel to put on a small probe surface so that it slides easily and records sound waves accurately. You may be asked to help by holding your breath for a few seconds to improve your picture of the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, or spleen.
The liver is a very busy organ that produces bile for digesting food, helping to destroy “old” red blood cells, regulating metabolism, synthesizing proteins, making hormones and filtering toxins. The liver, kidney, and pancreatic tissue may be damaged by illness or alcohol; An important type of damage is cirrhosis. In cirrhosis, smooth healthy liver tissue is replaced by fibrosis (non-functioning fibrous tissue), scar tissue and / or nodules. Ultrasound can show the characteristic ribbed, knotty appearance of the liver with cirrhosis.
If the liver tissue is damaged, it is less accessible to perform its functions throughout the body. Therefore, the early detection of any change in the texture of the liver controls the health of the liver. Your doctor will order blood work every time you come to an ultrasound to evaluate liver function.
If a gallstone or gallstones are suspected, your doctor will order liver function tests, and your sonograph (ultrasound technologist) will ask you to drop a few positions and maybe stand up or sit up straight to see if gallstones will move when you do Sometimes people have one very large gallbladder blocking the gallbladder, whose bile storage is needed to help the liver break down fats and help with digestion; sometimes people have a lot of tiny gallstones. Ultrasound is the best way to detect them.
Together, you and your doctor will decide how and when to plan diet, exercise, and possibly treatment to improve your health and quality of life.
