Pattern of duplex doppler ultrasound scans in Jos University Teaching Hospital

Doppler ultrasound scan is a non invasive diagnostic tool used in the evaluation of vascular and perivascular lesions. It is gaining a wider acceptance over other methods of vascular evaluation which are expensive and invasive. We aimed at evaluating the indications and findings of duplex doppler ultrasound scans performed in this centre.

This was a retrospective study of all consecutive patients that had doppler ultrasound scans from January 2000 to December 2004.

One Hundred and sixty five (165) Doppler ultra sound scans were performed on 115 patients. Thirty nine patients had a double scan while 19 had repeated scans. The study population was aged between 2-90 years with a mean age of 44.5 +/- 17.5 years. There were 86 (52.1%) males and 79 (47.9%) females giving a male to female ratio of 1:1.67 (41%) of the doppler scans were for deep vein thrombosis while peripheral vascular disease and vascular aneurysm accounted for 24 (14.5%) and 23 (13.9%) respectively, see Table 1. Reduction in vascular blood flow was the most common doppler finding seen in 34 (20.6%) patients followed by visible thrombi in 14 (8.5%) patients.

Deep vein thrombosis is the most common indication for doppler ultrasound scan in our practice.