0541: Ultrasound in the Digestive Tract

Abstract

US is today an important imaging modality for evaluation of the digestive tract in children. It allows simultaneous non invasive anatomic and homodynamic study. It's of a diagnostic, prognosis, therapeutic and preventive value. It helps the physicians to confirm eventual antenatal diagnosed abnormalities and to treat children in several circumstances, exploring different congenital and acquired disorders. US exam must be carried out by high frequency convex and linear probes in all scan plans. The child is lying in supine position, in general. No premedication is needed and diet is not necessary. Doppler techniques, if available, are helpful. Normal aspect of digestive tract and variants are important to be known. Its main indications are acute and chronic abdominal pain, suspected intussusception or appendicitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, suspected hypertrophic pyloric stenosis or gastro-oesophageal reflux, blunt abdominal trauma mid gut volvulus, Schoenlein Henock purpura syndrome, mesenteric ischemia, and screening for abdominal congenital abnormalities. Checking all the intra abdominal organs must be the gold rule. The observation should include bowel wall thickness, bowel motility, bowel content, free fluid or collection in the abdomen, or any mass related to the bowel. US guided biopsy is very helpful, in particular when abdominal mass is suspected. US is needed during the follow up after medical or surgical treatment of several diseases: abscesses, ascitis, recurrencies of malignant tumors or intussusception.