gastrointestinal ultrasound

Indications

• visualization of the bowel & bowel wall
  • distingishing vascular from avascular intestinal or peri-intestinal lesions, including abscesses
• assessing splanchnic blood flow
• assessing gastrointestinal motility

Procedure

• transabdominal ultrasound to assess the normal bowel anatomy, vascularization, & luminal width
• no specific preparation for standard examination of intestine
  • fasting > 6 hours for measuring splanchnic blood flow
  • overnight fasting for measuring gastrointestinal motility
• both high & resolution probe needed for complete examination of the bowel
• frequency > 5 MHz to meausure wall thickness
  • bowel wall thickness < 2 mm normal (except duodenal bulb, rectum)
  • measure perpendicular to bowel wall
• color doppler imaging to evaluate the vascularization of pathological bowel wall
• resistive index in superior mesenteric artery 0.80-0.89 considered normal
• peak systolic velocity of superior mesenteric artery of 80-220 cm/sec considered normal
• contrast-enhanced ultrasound to separate vascular from avascular intestinal or peri-intestinal lesions, including abscesses
• ultrasound elastography to evaluate stiffness of pathological thickened bowel
• gastrointestinal ultrasound for anatomical location of the bowel, peristalsis, & luminal content

More general terms

• ultrasound (US, UTZ)