Mesenteric Arterial Duplex Ultrasound
Mesenteric Arterial Duplex Ultrasound
AIMS
To examine with ultrasound the mesenteric arteries that branch off the abdominal aorta to supply the bowel with blood. These mesenteric arteries can become narrowed (stenosed) or abnormally dilated (aneurysm). Narrowing can cause loss of ability to digest food and pain while eating, while aneurysms can burst and bleed if allowed to enlarge. The ultrasound examination employs sound waves to examine the shape of the artery and to study the flow inside the artery This information about an artery helps your doctor to make a diagnosis and decide treatment without using needles or invasive tests. This type of ultrasound can only diagnose and does not treat the arterial problem.
PREPARATION
The test requires that the subject fasts for 6 to 8 hours beforehand as swallowed food and gas in the abdomen will obscure the technician’s view of the blood vessels to the bowel, which are deep in the abdomen near the spine.
TECHNIQUE
The subject lies on an examination couch with just the abdomen exposed. The technician applies ultrasound jelly and presses the ultrasound probe on the abdominal wall, angling it in order to direct the sound beam in various directions.
DURATION
Up to 60 minutes, but usually less than 30 minutes.
DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA
A greater than 75% stenosis is predicted if the ratio of the peak velocity in the mesenteric artery is greater than 275cm/sec.