What is abdominal ultrasound used for?
An abdominal ultrasound is a noninvasive procedure used to assess the organs and structures within the abdomen. This includes the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, bile ducts, spleen, and abdominal aorta. Ultrasound technology allows quick visualization of the abdominal organs and structures from outside the body.
How do you read an abdominal ultrasound report?
As a general rule, in the transversal plane:
- The top of the ultrasound image is the anterior (ventral) side and the bottom is the posterior (dorsal) side.
- Left on the image is actually right and vice versa. The body is seen from below as it were (as in a transversal section of a CT scan).
What can you see in whole abdomen ultrasound?
The black-and-white images show the internal structures of the abdomen, such as the appendix, intestines, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and urinary bladder. A complete ultrasound of the abdomen evaluates all of the abdominal organs.
How much does an abdominal ultrasound cost?
For patients not covered by health insurance, an abdominal ultrasound typically costs $200-$650 or more, depending on the provider and geographic region, with an national average cost of $390, according to NewChoiceHealth.com[1] .
What do colors mean on abdominal ultrasound?
By definition, flow towards the transducer is depicted in red while flow away from the transducer is shown in blue. Different shades of red and blue are used to display velocity. Lighter shades of color are assigned to higher velocities.
Does an abdominal ultrasound show the colon?
Abdominal ultrasound: For this exam, a technician moves the transducer along the skin over your abdomen. This type of ultrasound can be used to look for tumors in your liver, gallbladder, pancreas, or elsewhere in your abdomen, but it can’t look for tumors of the colon or rectum.
Does insurance cover abdominal ultrasound?
An abdominal ultrasound typically is covered by health insurance when ordered by a doctor for diagnosis of a problem. For patients covered by health insurance, out-of-pocket costs typically consist of a copay of $10-$50 or more, or coinsurance of 10-50% or more.
Does insurance cover ultrasound?
Doctor-prescribed sonograms (but not keepsake ones) will still be covered by your insurance, meaning they’re considered medically necessary and part of acceptable care. However, depending on your plan’s specifics, you may have to pay for some portion, or all, of them yourself.
What does blue on ultrasound mean?
Vessels in which blood is flowing are colored red for flow in one direction and blue for flow in the other, with a color scale that reflects the speed of the flow. Because different colors are used to designate the direction of blood flow, this Doppler technique simplifies interpretation of the ultrasound data.