What Is Ultrasound?
Ultrasound (sonogram or ultrasonography) uses reflected sound waves to create pictures of what is inside your pet’s body. It’s a non-invasive way to diagnose and stage many common disease, and the best imaging method to evaluate fluid filled and soft-tissue organs.
How Does It Work?
A device called a transducer or probe is passed over your pet’s body, producing sound waves that bounce off tissues and “echo” back to the transducer. These waves are changed into video-like pictures viewed on a monitor. Dense areas are more reflective so they appear whiter or brighter on the ultrasound images; less dense areas like tissue or fluid look darker.
When Is Ultrasound Used?
X-rays can’t differentiate soft tissue-it appears as a gray shadow around bone structures on the image. Ultrasound cannot penetrate bone, but can image soft tissues and detect fluid, such as blood or urine. It can show the structure of body organs like the liver, spleen, gallbladder, and uterus. Because ultrasound lets us “see” abnormalities, we can detect nodules, masses, cysts, abscesses, congenital defects to name a few. It can also check fetal health and monitor gestation in breeding animals. X-rays and ultrasound are frequently used together to get a more complete picture of what is going on inside your pet.
What to Expect?
Ultrasound is non-invasive and well tolerated by most pets. Sedation, oral and/or injectable, may be administered to keep your pet comfortable during the scan. In most cases, ultrasound is relatively brief (30-60 minutes) and your pet is able to go home the very same day. After the scan your pet can resume normal activities and there is no special after-care need.
For the best images, pets should be fasted prior to imaging. We will clip you pet’s fur at the site of the ultrasound since sound waves cannot penetrate the hair. We’ll then apply a non-irritating gel to your pet’s skin to allow the probe to slide smoothly and product clearer images.
After the scan is completed, the images are sent to a board certified radiologist for interpretation. A written interpretation report is returned to us, then your veterinarian will contact you with results and recommendations for care going forward.
Contact our office for a treatment plan with cost estimate for your pet’s abdominal ultrasound with Dr. Pennington.
