Ultrasound is a non-invasive medical test that aids the diagnosis of abdominal pain and detects early changes in internal organs. HK Medical ultrasound screening covers both Upper and Lower Abdomen areas such as liver, biliary, kidney, spleen, urinary bladder and prostate. Ultrasound is safe, noninvasive and does not use ionizing radiation.

Upper Abdomen:

Liver

Fatty liver

Fatty liver is diagnosed when the proportion of liver cells that contain fat is more than 5%. There are two basic types of fatty liver: nonalcoholic (NAFLD) and alcoholic (AFLD). The most common cause of fatty liver is alcohol consumption and heavy drinking. Non-alcoholic fatty liver is usually more common among patients who are overweight or obese. It can also be caused by the lack of physical activity and unhealthy diets. Ultrasound screening can accurately detect abnormalities seen in fatty liver and early intervention can prevent severe liver diseases.

Liver fibrosis

Liver fibrosis usually occurs after an inflammation in the liver or in patients who are already suffering from fatty liver. An innovative technique called ElastPQ provides a non-invasive way of assessing liver fibrosis and evaluating liver stiffness, which is more accurate than normal ultrasound scans. Instead of painful biopsy procedure, an easy and pain-free ultrasound exam becomes the routine method to assess liver fibrosis status.

Biliary, pancreas and spleen

Ultrasound screening can detect gallstones, pancreatitis and splenomegaly. Gallstones are solid lumps which form in the gallbladder or bile duct. If gallstones fall from the gallbladder to the bile duct, it will cause occlusion. There are two types of pancreatitis: acute pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis. Signs of pancreatitis include pain in the upper abdomen, nausea and vomiting. As for the spleen, abnormalities of splenic circulation and the hematopoietic system can cause splenomegaly. All of the above health conditions can be diagnosed with ultrasound, allowing the doctor to provide effective treatments for individual patients.

Kidney

Most kidney diseases are found unexpectedly. Ultrasound can help detect abnormalities in the kidney, such as renal stones and kidney tumors. It can also detect whether or not the patient is suffering from hydronephrosis. Different echo patterns also can differentiate some types of benign and malignant kidney tumors from one another.

Lower Abdomen

Prostate and bladder

Ultrasound can detect bladder stones and their location, sizes, numbers and shapes. It can also evaluate the status of prostatic hypertrophy and tumors.