Appendicitis – On Ultrasound – RADIOLOGYPICS.COM

Appendicitis – On Ultrasound

History: 25 year old female with acute lower abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Given the history, this is essentially diagnostic of appendicitis. Take a look again at the image. The appendix has a target appearance, which also aids in the diagnosis. The target appearance is caused by edema within the various layers of the appendix…

radiologypics

January 26, 2013

1–2 minutes

abdomen, abdominal pain, GI, ultrasound

History: 25 year old female with acute lower abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

Transverse ultrasound image of the right lower quadrant of this patient's abdomen with color doppler shows a dilated tubular structure with increased surrounding vascularity. Additionally, free fluid is seen. — **Appendicitis:** Longitudinal ultrasound image of the right lower quadrant of the abdomen with color doppler shows a dilated tubular structure which measured 1 cm in width and demonstrated increased surrounding vascularity. On graded compression the tubular structure failed to compress. Additionally, free fluid is seen.

Given the history, this is essentially diagnostic of appendicitis. Take a look again at the image. The appendix has a target appearance, which also aids in the diagnosis. The target appearance is caused by edema within the various layers of the appendix wall.

The appendix is very difficult to localize in most attempts of abdominal ultrasound, and many times patients go on to CT for definitive diagnosis. A nice overview of the radiology of appendicitis can be found here.

3 responses to “Appendicitis – On Ultrasound”

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March 20, 2014 at 8:37 pm

[…] See appendicitis on ultrasound. […]

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