The liquid-filled stomach--an ultrasonic window to the upper abdomen

An ultrasonic window to the upper abdomen is creasted by (a) filling the fasting stomach with methylcellulose suspension, (b) administering glucagon intravenously, and (c) examining the patient prone. Glucagon relaxes the gastric musculature and the prone position allows the stomach gas to rise to the fundus. This enables assessment of the relationships of the stomach to adjacent structures and permits display of structures forming the stomach bed. The equipment used was a commercially available water-delay system with wide-aperture focused transducers. The system gives good resolution and allows the gastric musculature to be distinguished from the mucosa and its overlying mucus.