What an Ultrasound Can (and Cannot) Tell Us
Ultrasound is a powerful bedside tool — but it's only as good as the question we ask it. Here's how I use it in clinic.
Ultrasonography lets us look inside the body without radiation, in real time. For abdominal pain, fluid collections, gallbladder disease, and obstetric assessment, it is often the first imaging test of choice.
What it cannot do: see clearly through bone or gas, and detect every kind of lesion. A normal ultrasound does not always mean a normal organ — it means the structures we could see looked normal.
The most helpful thing a patient can do is describe symptoms in detail before the scan. The clearer the clinical question, the more precise the answer the scan can provide.
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