Contents
The spleen is an important organ of the human body, which is responsible for providing immune protection through the formation of lymphocytes, is involved in the destruction of old erythrocytes, oxygen-carrying cells, in the process of deposition of blood and the synthesis of erythrocytes during intrauterine development of the fetus. During the period of intrauterine development of a child, the spleen is the first to suffer due to harmful external influences. The same thing happens throughout adult life, which is why it is so important to determine the pathologies of the spleen in a timely manner and begin their active treatment. To diagnose this organ, doctors use the technique of ultrasound.
The specifics of ultrasound examination of the abdominal organs
To diagnose diseases of internal organs, specialists need to “look” at them. Previously, X-rays could do this, but it has a radiation load that can adversely affect the patient’s body.
In the process of development of medical diagnostics, the organs of the abdominal cavity began to be examined using ultrasound examinations. Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity helps to identify many developing pathologies at an early stage and help track the dynamics of the disease.
An ultrasonic wave, getting inside the human body, is able to partially penetrate obstructing tissues and partially reflect from them, demonstrating to specialists different wavelengths of ultrasonic waves in different parts of the area under study. According to this length, it became possible to determine the outlines of internal organs and their sizes, as well as all kinds of seals, shape distortion and other pathologies.
All organs have different densities and specifically reflect the ultrasonic wave, so this feature is always important to consider when conducting an ultrasound examination. Ultrasound scanning of the abdominal organs uses a frequency of ultrasonic waves in the range from 2,5 to 3,5 megahertz. At the same time, the sizes, volumes, structure of all the organs under study, their locations in the body, interaction with neighboring structures, various neoplasms and other pathological changes in these organs are determined.
This highly informative imaging method helps doctors make more accurate diagnoses of diseases of the following organs located in the abdominal cavity:
- pancreas;
- liver;
- kidney;
- retroperitoneal space and its lymph nodes, as well as blood vessels;
- biliary organs;
- spleen.
It is important to remember that an ultrasound examination of these organs is prescribed to the patient by the attending physician if there are complaints of pain in the right or left hypochondrium, right iliac region, heaviness in the right side, and also to exclude or confirm appendicitis, oncological diseases, digestive problems, diseases of the abdominal organs. Such a study helps to establish the chronic stages of various diseases, determine the acute stage of the pathology, or identify internal injuries in the abdominal cavity.
Diseases detected by ultrasound examination of the spleen
Ultrasound of the spleen provides an opportunity for a specialist in functional diagnostics to consider not only the shape and size, but also to determine the uniformity and consistency of the tissue of this organ. At the same time, a conclusion is made about the absence or presence of pathology in the spleen, various cysts or tumors.
Ultrasound examination of the spleen is the best method for non-invasive and painless examination of this organ. During ultrasound, the patient is located in a dark room, where the area under study is visualized using a special sensor and monitor. Before the examination, a special gel is applied to the patient’s skin, which allows to eliminate the layer of air that gets under the ultrasound probe, which provides clearer visualization.
The main advantages of ultrasound of the spleen in comparison with other types of diagnostics of this organ include the already mentioned painlessness, the speed of the study, the speed of obtaining a qualitative result, the absence of contraindications to the study, the possibility of examining newborns due to the absence of harmful radiation, no risk of getting inflammatory diseases during the study. or injury.
The main symptoms in which a specialist in the clinic will prescribe an ultrasound of the spleen to the patient is the assumption of the development of leukemia (oncological blood disease), pain in the left hypochondrium, pathological signs in blood tests, injuries of the left hypochondrium, the transfer of mononucleosis, tuberculosis, syphilis and other diseases affecting the spleen, pathological processes in the liver. It is also possible to conduct an ultrasound examination of the spleen at the request of the patient, if he wants to make sure that this organ is in full health.
Ultrasound results
During the diagnosis, the specialist very carefully examines the state of the internal organ. The conclusion with the analytical data of such an inspection is prepared later. During the examination, the doctor examines in detail all areas of the spleen and organs that are located next to it in order to check the compliance of all the regulatory parameters of the organ and those that he sees in the patient during ultrasound. After the end of the diagnostics, the specialist immediately prepares a conclusion in which he indicates all those parameters that meet the standards, and also separately draws attention to those indicators that do not fit into the norm. This will allow in the future the attending physician, who wrote out the referral for an ultrasound examination of the spleen, to correctly diagnose the pathology and prescribe its treatment. When ultrasound detects displacements of the spleen due to the growth of tissues around it or neoplasms of the organ, the patient is often sent for additional examinations to clarify the picture of the disease.
It is important to remember that with a high degree of obesity of the patient, strong gas formation at the time of diagnosis, filled intestines, the diagnostic results may have errors. Therefore, on the eve of the study, it is important to ask the doctor how many hours before the procedure it is necessary to stop eating, clean the intestines and limit foods that promote gas formation in the diet.