Intrepreting A Transabdominal Abdominal Ultrasound

OVERVIEW

The following guide helps walk you through a comprehensive approach to understand and interpreting transabdominal abdominal ultrasound studies (examples of unremarkable studies can be found here). As a refresher read this guide on the fundamentals of ultrasound studies to help orient yourself.

Keep in mind that using the example of a unremarkable transabdominal radiology report template can be an important reference for this page.

BASIC ALGORITHM

When interpreting any radiological study it is important to have a clear algorithm. For the purposes of this study an organ based approach can be taken where each abdominal organ is evaluated and characterized.

  1. Spleen
  2. Kidneys
SPLEEN

Splenomegaly: a size greater then 12 cm is considered to be abnormal.

KIDNEYS

Normal Size Range: In adults, the normal kidney is 10-14 cm long in males and 9-13 cm long in females, 3-5 cm wide.

  • A discrepancy in length> 2 cm between kidneys is considered abnormal.