Bowel Sonography is not routinely used as a primary tool for evaluation of the bowel. Nevertheless, there are many patients with nonspecific bowel-related complaints who are initially scanned with ultrasound, and in these patients attention to the intestinal structures can often identify the abnormality and direct the workup in the appropriate direction. Therefore a quick survey of the bowel is a useful undertaking in patients undergoing…

Anatomy The spleen is an intraperitoneal organ that occupies the superior, posterior, and lateral aspects of the left upper quadrant. It is normally in continuity with the diaphragm posteriorly, laterally, and superiorly. It contacts the kidney and splenic flexure inferiorly and the stomach and tail of the pancreas medially. The splenic artery arises from the celiac axis and travels along the posterior superior aspect of the…

Anatomy The pancreas is a retroperitoneal organ that develops from a large dorsal embryologic anlage and a smaller ventral anlage. The dorsal pancreatic anlage communicates by means of its central duct with the duodenum and the ventral anlage communicates with the biliary tract. During embryologic development these pancreatic anlagen rotate with the intestinal structures and ultimately fuse together so that the dorsal pancreas is located anterior…

Scrotum Sonography is the primary method used to image the scrotum. Patients undergoing sonography of the scrotum are usually examined in the supine position. A towel can be draped between the thighs to help support the scrotum. Warm gel should always be used because cold gel can elicit a cremasteric response and make it very difficult to perform a thorough examination. The anatomy relevant to the…

Anatomy Unlike the other solid abdominal organs, the kidneys have a complex internal architecture that is responsible for pro­ducing a variety of internal echogenicities. The central renal sinus is composed of fibrofatty tissue that appears echogenic on sonograms. The renal vessels and collecting system are occasionally seen as thin, anechoic, fluid-containing structures located within the echogenic tissues of the renal sinus. The lymphatics also pass through…

Anatomy The bile ducts are generally divided into the intrahepatic and extrahepatic portions. The intrahepatic ducts run in the portal triads with the portal veins and hepatic arteries. The right and left hepatic ducts are anterior to the adjacent portal veins. The peripheral intrahepatic ducts run parallel and adjacent to the hepatic arteries and portal veins, but the relative anterior and posterior relationship of the three…

Anatomy The liver is the largest solid organ in the normal abdomen, occupying much of the right upper quadrant. The liver is divided into eight functional segments based on vascular and biliary anatomy. The middle hepatic vein marks the division between the right and left hemiliver. The right hepatic vein divides the right hemiliver into an anterior and posterior section. The left hepatic vein divides the…

Anatomy The gallbladder is a long oval-shaped organ that is positioned beneath the liver immediately adjacent to the interlobar fissure ( Fig. 2-1 ). The fissure can be a useful landmark for locating small contracted gallbladders or gallbladders that are completely filled with stones. Likewise, the gallbladder can be used as a landmark for identifying the junction between the left and right hemiliver. The upper limit…

Ultrasonography has long been a valuable method of imaging the body with several distinct advantages over other modalities. One of the most important advantages is its lack of ionizing radiation. Sonography can provide clinically useful information without clinically significant biologic effects on the patient. This is critical in obstetrics, very important in the pediatric patient population, and becoming increasingly important in adults due to radiation dose…