If you have problems with your stomach or intestines, your doctor will refer you for an ultrasound. The examination method is painless and very informative. Will an ultrasound show a stomach ulcer?
- What is the purpose of examining the stomach using ultrasound?
- What will an ultrasound show in the stomach?
- Who is diagnosed?
- Will a stomach ulcer be visible on an ultrasound?
- What is recorded in the examination report?
- How is diagnosis carried out?
- results
- How can an adult prepare for the procedure?
- How to prepare a child?
- About the benefits of ultrasound
What is the purpose of examining the stomach using ultrasound?
Not long ago in Russia, specialists began performing ultrasound of the stomach, but the procedure has become popular and in demand. Gastroscopy is a more informative method of examining an organ, but when doing it, the patient feels pain and discomfort. Ultrasound of the stomach shows the following abnormalities in parts of the organ:
- Small or large curvature;
- Pryratnikov cave with the gatekeeper's canal;
- Sphincter tissue and itself;
- Duodenum.
Most often, diseases occur in the above-mentioned parts of the organ. Ultrasound helps to identify the disease in time, begin timely treatment and, if it is not oncology, achieve a complete cure or long-term remission of the disease.
What does an abdominal ultrasound show in women?
The patient is sent for an urgent examination (ultrasound) and in case of suspicion of the following pathologies:
- liver abnormalities;
- gallstone disease;
- cholecystitis;
- abnormalities of organ development;
- pancreatitis of any form (acute, chronic);
- aortic (abdominal) aneurysm;
- tumors;
- to assess the prevalence of neoplasms (if any);
- hepatitis.
The presence of menstruation does not affect the procedure at all. With menstruation, as well as without it, this technique shows the same result. During the examination, at the doctor’s request, you will need to briefly hold your breath several times. Diagnostics is carried out in real time, which ensures the most reliable result at the end of the study. Thus, in 20-30 minutes spent in the ultrasound room, you can get complete information about the functioning of all the patient’s internal organs.
Will a stomach ulcer be visible on an ultrasound?
Is it possible to immediately see a stomach ulcer on an ultrasound? An ultrasound examination will show whether you have a stomach ulcer, gastritis or another disease. The larger the affected area, the faster the ultrasound specialist will notice the pathology on the screen, but he will also detect smaller erosions.
How does ultrasound work? The waves are reflected from the walls of the organ and a picture appears on the screen. A place where the ulcer will not reflect ultrasonic waves. Having noticed such a hole, several, the specialist will understand that the patient has an ulcer. But such an indication on the disease screen is considered conditional. Additional examination is required. Possible pathologies: benign or malignant neoplasms.
What is required during a cancer screening? Let us remember that it is carried out on an empty stomach. If necessary, the specialist will tell you to eat something or drink water. Now the doctor will estimate the time it takes for the food to leave the stomach. Diagnostics takes a lot of time and will be carried out in several stages.
Did the food stay in the organ for a long time? This means that the patient is really sick and urgently needs to be diagnosed and treated. More often than ulcers in patients, a benign or malignant tumor is found in the stomach. The patient is referred for a biopsy. Only after taking samples of gastric tissue and examining them in the laboratory, the doctor will definitely tell whether your tumor is malignant or not dangerous, and there is no need to worry unnecessarily.
When can a doctor suspect that a patient has inflammation in the stomach? During an ultrasound, he examines the organ, notes how thick the walls are, what condition the mucous membrane is in, and takes other signs into account. If deviations from the norm are noticeable, the doctor will suspect an abscess. Most often, the patient has other signs, which a doctor with extensive experience takes into account before making the correct diagnosis.
About the benefits of ultrasound
The main advantages of ultrasound are:
- The procedure is done quickly;
- The examination is painless;
- The diagnosis is harmless;
- The devices are highly sensitive, there is no harm from ultrasound.
"Advice. Timely diagnosis will allow you to prescribe the correct treatment.”
Now you know that stomach ulcers are visible on ultrasound. Treatment required. About examining the stomach using ultrasound:
I know that I have erosive gastritis, and I haven’t gone for a long time without getting checked, I don’t want to swallow the hose, but an ultrasound will show a stomach ulcer?
The most reliable endoscopic examination was and remains - this is FGDS (fibrogastroduodenoscopy). Allows you to examine the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. In addition, if there are changes in the organs, during FGDS it is possible to take a piece of mucous membrane for a biopsy, that is, to determine the presence or absence of oncology. After such an examination, the diagnostician can confidently make a diagnosis or, if there are no changes, give a conclusion: healthy.
How is diagnosis carried out?
An ultrasound examination of the stomach is carried out in a doctor’s office using a special device. It's external. You do not need to swallow the probe with the sensor. The doctor will ask you to lie down on the couch, lift your clothes, exposing your stomach. You can lie on your side if comfortable.
The doctor will apply a special gel to the skin, take a sensor and move it over the abdomen, observing on the screen what is happening inside. Periodically, a specialist will take screenshots. Thanks to them, the treating doctor will have the condition of your stomach documented and, after other examinations, he will give you the correct diagnosis and treatment.
The examination procedure takes place in 3 stages:
- In 15 min. Before the procedure, drink 1 liter of still water or juice, water + juice. The stomach will straighten out and all the pathologies in it will be visible.
- Drink another glass or several of water and the doctor will examine the organ with a sensor.
- About 20 minutes will pass, the doctor will examine the stomach again and determine its motility and how quickly it empties.
You need to drink, but before the examination you need to abstain from food; the diagnosis is carried out on an empty stomach. The ultrasound specialist will examine what shape it is, the thickness of its walls, are there any erosions, even ulcers, or cancer on the mucous membrane? A procedure carried out in stages. will take approximately 1 hour. If only the stomach is examined, then it will take from 7 to 15 minutes.
Diagnostic technique
How is ultrasound diagnosis of the stomach performed? The examination is carried out externally. To do this, the patient must expose his stomach and take a lying position on his side or back. Using a special sensor, the doctor conducts a scan, and the result is displayed on the monitor. As a result, the doctor receives both a transcript and a photo.
The procedure itself is divided into 3 stages:
Stage 1: 15 minutes before the ultrasound, the patient drinks one liter of liquid (concentrated juice, boiled water or juice diluted with water). This is necessary so that the main organ of the digestive system straightens out and diagnostics allows us to see all possible changes and pathologies.
Stage 2: the patient again drinks a small amount of liquid. The doctor diagnoses a stomach containing fluid by looking at changes in the internal organs.
Stage 3: after 20 minutes, the doctor conducts another study (third) in order to determine the speed at which the stomach empties and determine the motor function of the organ.
The procedure is carried out on an empty stomach. During an ultrasound, the doctor analyzes the shape and location of the stomach, the thickness of its walls and, of course, the presence of deformities.
Preparation for examination in adults
Preparation for an ultrasound of the stomach is very simple. The only important requirement is a strict diet. A few days before the diagnosis, you need to exclude from the menu such foods that contribute to the formation of gases (legumes, fermented milk, fresh cabbage and fruits, sweets and others). You can take Enterosgel or Espumisan. The ultrasound is performed on an empty stomach, and for this reason, the last meal should be 12-14 hours before the procedure. It is advisable to refrain from smoking and drinking alcohol.
Preparing for examination in children
For children, preparation for the procedure is a little gentler. Children of preschool and primary school age are recommended to fast for 6-8 hours before the procedure. The liquid before the ultrasound is drunk in the amount of 0.5 liters. But for infants, ultrasound is performed immediately after feeding. And fasting can last 3-3.5 hours.
results
Analyzing the results, the doctor will evaluate:
- What is the position of the stomach and what size is it?
- Is the mucous membrane affected or not?
- How thick are the stomach walls?
- What is the condition of the vessels?
- With what intensity do the gastric walls contract?
- Is there an abscess or tumors?
Unfortunately, ultrasound diagnostics are external and it is impossible to take a piece of tissue from the stomach to perform, for example, a biopsy and find out whether a patient has a benign or malignant tumor? Much more often than an ultrasound of an organ, an FGDS or fibrogastroduocopy is done. This examination method is more informative. It is not carried out if the patient is intolerant.
"Advice. If the doctor prescribes an ultrasound of your stomach, do not refuse. It will help detect pathology and begin treatment on time. Without exaggeration, such a diagnosis can save your life, because a stomach ulcer is a serious disease.”
Features of the diagnostic method
Ultrasound of the stomach and esophagus is indicated if the presence of diseases of the digestive organ is suspected. Ultrasound examination is a classic method of examination. Based on its results, additional diagnostic methods are recommended.
An abdominal ultrasound is performed on an empty stomach. The technique has both advantages and disadvantages. The examination does not take much time. Lasts up to 20 minutes.
Ultrasound examination is absolutely safe for the human body. The diagnostic method allows:
- assess the condition of the walls of the digestive organ;
- identify deviations in the digestion process;
- assess the condition of blood vessels;
- examine nearby lymph nodes.
Ultrasound allows you to assess the condition of the stomach walls
The disadvantages of the procedure include the impossibility of taking material for research, since the biopsy is taken during endoscopy.
Using ultrasound, the condition is studied:
- gatekeeper;
- sections of the digestive organ;
- part of the duodenum.
It is not possible to study other parts of the stomach in all cases, which means that ultrasound is not enough to establish an accurate diagnosis.
Patients are often interested in whether they do an ultrasound of the stomach and what it shows. The procedure for examining the abdominal cavity is rarely prescribed, as it is ineffective and does not allow a complete study of the digestive organ. It is performed in combination with endoscopy.
Ultrasound is usually performed together with endoscopy of the stomach
How can an adult prepare for the procedure?
When preparing for a stomach examination, it is important to adhere to a strict diet before the procedure. 2 days before it, exclude foods that promote gas formation from your diet:
- Beans, peas, beans, soybeans;
- Various fruits;
- Sweet;
- Soda.
These days, if there is a tendency to constipation or the stomach has not emptied in the morning before the procedure, take Espumisan and Enterosgel. Ultrasound examination is done on an empty stomach. Therefore, eat approximately 12 or even 14 hours before diagnosis. Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke.
Preparing for an abdominal ultrasound
To get the most accurate result, you need to properly prepare for the study. Gases accumulating in the intestines may interfere with a clear scan. To minimize their number, experts recommend switching to a more gentle diet at least two to three days before the test.
It is advisable not to consume all types of baked goods and not to eat fatty meat. Nuts, legumes, fruits, raw vegetables, various sodas, and fresh milk also cause excessive gas formation, and you should not drink or eat them before scanning. Drinking alcoholic beverages is strictly prohibited. When scheduling a test in the morning, it is better to do it on an empty stomach, and you should even refuse plain water.
During the afternoon study, the last meal should be no later than 4-5 hours. It is also not recommended to drink water or any drinks. What an abdominal ultrasound shows can also be clarified by your doctor.
Before the study, for prevention, the specialist may prescribe the use of laxatives that reduce the formation of gases or improve the digestion of medications. On the day of the ultrasound scan, it is imperative to relieve the intestines. If a laxative does not help you go to the toilet, then you can use a cleansing enema in the morning and evening. Patients should bring their own sheets and tissues to the examination.
Will an abdominal ultrasound show pathologies in the liver?
