{"id":25738,"date":"2019-09-29T23:45:56","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T03:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/?page_id=25738"},"modified":"2025-03-21T22:56:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T02:56:55","slug":"radiology-procedures-paracentesis-scanning-the-patient-for-ascites-with-ultrasound","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/?page_id=25738","title":{"rendered":"Radiology Procedures: Paracentesis (Scanning The Patient For Ascites With Ultrasound)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">OVERVIEW<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Before the start of a paracentesis, ultrasound should be used to scan for and evaluate the patient&#8217;s degree of ascites. It is important to realize that in some cases the patient may not actually have any ascites, or may not have a large enough volume of ascites to tap. This makes scanning the patient for ascites BEFORE starting the procedure very useful.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25565\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25565\" style=\"width: 816px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-02-at-2.39.00-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-25565\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-02-at-2.39.00-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"826\" height=\"592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-02-at-2.39.00-PM.png 1033w, https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-02-at-2.39.00-PM-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-02-at-2.39.00-PM-768x550.png 768w, https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-02-at-2.39.00-PM-1024x734.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25565\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One example of how ascites can appear on ultrasound.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">HOW TO SCAN FOR ASCITES PRIOR TO A PARACENTESIS<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>This video covers some of the main aspects that should be considered when scanning a patient for ascites prior to a paracentesis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WW8uJFq_isM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SCANNING FOR A PARACENTESIS KEY MEASUREMENTS<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>It is important to remember that when scanning for a paracentesis that one should make a few key measurements. These include measuring the distance the needle will need to travel before reaching the ascites fluid, as well as the depth the needle will need to travel to reach the other edge of the ascites collection (i.e. the point at which it could damage internal structures).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VsFXJHx63Qc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<pre>Page Updated: 09.29.2019<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OVERVIEW Before the start of a paracentesis, ultrasound should be used to scan for and evaluate the patient&#8217;s degree of ascites. It is important to realize that in some cases the patient may not actually have any ascites, or may not have a large enough volume of ascites to tap. This makes scanning the patient &#8230; <a title=\"Radiology Procedures: Paracentesis (Scanning The Patient For Ascites With Ultrasound)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/?page_id=25738\" aria-label=\"More on Radiology Procedures: Paracentesis (Scanning The Patient For Ascites With Ultrasound)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25159,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P71awf-6H8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25743,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25738\/revisions\/25743"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}