A commonly used medical imaging test, abdominal ultrasound can be prescribed in many situations because it is a simple, painless and safe way to examine the solid organs in the abdomen and pelvic region.

Abdominal ultrasound is based on the use of ultrasound: sent by the probe, they are reflected on the walls of the organs and produce an echo, the return of which makes it possible to obtain images.

Ultrasound is used to explore organs in the abdomen that are solid or contain fluid – liver, pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts, kidneys, spleen -, blood vessels and organs in the pelvis for abdominopelvic ultrasound: uterus and ovaries in women, prostate and seminal vesicles in men.

It makes it possible to detect abnormal abdominal masses (ganglion, calculus) and to distinguish a solid mass from a fluid mass (cyst for example).

Abdominal ultrasound is performed in a hospital or radiology office, by a doctor, radiologist or midwife (for pregnancy ultrasound). It is a painless examination and does not require any preparation, apart from being fasting for at least 3 hours. In certain situations, it may be necessary to have a full bladder: this will then be specified on the prescription.

Abdominal ultrasound is performed transcutaneously, that is to say through the abdominal wall, more rarely endocavitary (vagina or rectum) to be as close as possible to the region to be examined. A cool gel is applied to the stomach to facilitate the transmission of ultrasound. Then the practitioner passes the ultrasound probe on the stomach, in order to obtain various cross-sectional images retransmitted on a screen.

An abdominal ultrasound may be ordered in the presence of abdominal pain. It allows to diagnose various pathologies on the various organs of the abdomen:

• gall bladder stones;
• cirrhosis, fatty liver, cyst, tumor of the liver;
• dilation or obstruction of the bilary tract;
• pancreatitis, cysts in the pancreas, fibrosis;
• fibrosis, necrosis, rupture of the spleen;
• intra-abdominal lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy);
• thrombosis of the vessels;
• kidney stones, enlargement of the kidney;
• ascites (presence of fluid in the abdominal cavity).

During pregnancy, abdominal ultrasound makes it possible to follow the good growth of the fetus and to detect certain morphological abnormalities. In classic pregnancy monitoring, three ultrasounds are therefore recommended.

The pictures and the ultrasound report are given the same day.

Depending on the results of the ultrasound, other examinations may be prescribed to clarify the diagnosis: scanner, MRI, laparoscopy.