Ultrasonography of the acute abdomen: gastrointestinal conditions
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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Gastric Point of Care Ultrasound in Adults: Image Acquisition and Interpretation
Published on: September 22, 2023
1Department of Radiology, MCH Westeinde Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands. dr.jbcmpuylaert@wxs.nl
Abstract:
Although multislice, helical CT is increasingly replacing ultrasonography for the evaluation of patients with acute abdominal pain, ultrasound does have certain specific advantages over CT. This article discusses the advantages of ultrasound in imaging of the acute abdomen, exploring such areas as appendicitis, ileocecal Crohn's disease, infectious ileocolitis and infectious ileocecitis, mesenteric lymphadenitis, cecal carcinoma, sigmoid diverticulitis, right-sided colonic diverticulitis, and perforated peptic ulcer.
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