Abdominal Ultrasound

Background

An abdominal ultrasound is a test that utilizes pulsed high-frequency sound waves (2–5 MHz) to create images of the abdominal organs without ionizing radiation. It creates real-time two-dimensional images of the various abdominal organs that can be displayed in either the longitudinal or transverse planes. There are a few different versions of the abdominal ultrasound. The right upper quadrant ultrasound, a foreshortened test, only includes the organs in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen (e.g., liver, gallbladder, right kidney). An abdominal Doppler is another version that adds Doppler imaging to evaluate the major abdominal arteries for stenosis (e.g., celiac axis, renal arteries, main mesenteric arteries).