When to Consider Abdominal Computed Tomography (CT) Over Abdominal Ultrasound?

摘要

Ultrasound has been performed in dogs and cats for evaluation of abdominal abnormalities for many years in veterinary medicine. Advantages to abdominal ultrasound include ability to perform the study on awake or sedated patients, use of nonionizing soundwaves, and ultrasound's ability to distinguish fluid and soft tissue changes. Disadvantages to sonographically evaluating the abdomen include incomplete assessment of the organs due to overlying stomach and bowel gas, food within the gastrointestinaltract and/or fecal material in the colon that interferes with the ultrasound wave propagation, and patient discomfort or poor compliance during the study. Additionally, ultrasound is highly operator dependent, and thorough evaluation of abdominal organscan be limited due to experience level of the sonoerapher.