My Pet’s Ultrasound and Internal Medicine Evaluation

Your veterinarian has recommended that your pet have a diagnostic ultrasound and evaluation. Ultrasound is a non-invasive, painless procedure that enables one to look inside the body and assess organ architecture to better evaluate for possible disease. Your vet will send medical records for review prior to the appointment in order for Dr. Traub to consult on possible diagnoses, diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations in conjunction with ultrasound findings.

Your pet may need sedation (oral prescribed by your veterinarian to be given prior to ultrasound and/or injectable sedatives given by your veterinarian at time of procedure) to enable thorough evaluation with ultrasound and/or perform any sampling recommended. Any questions in regards to safety of sedation specific to your pet should be directed to your primary care veterinarian.

Your pet’s fur will be clipped in the region for ultrasound (abdomen, chest, neck etc).

While ultrasound can be an extremely helpful test, like all tests it is not perfect and there are limitations to its benefits. Listed below are some key points:

• Ultrasound assesses the structure of the internal tissues, but does not test actual organ function which is usually better assessed with other tests (such as lab work and clinical evaluation)
• Ultrasound in some cases may not give a definitive diagnosis but may help guide your veterinarian into a more narrowed scope to obtain a diagnosis. Other tests/procedures such as radiographs (Xrays), MRI, CT scan, biopsies etc may be needed to further obtain a diagnosis.
• Ultrasound cannot evaluate through air (inflated lungs) or gas pockets (intestinal gas) or bone.
• Ultrasound is very helpful in evaluating for possible cancer, but cannot differentiate benign masses/tumors from cancerous masses/tumors – this requires a tissue sample (cytology and/or biopsy) to evaluate the cells of the mass.
• Needle samples of organs/masses can often be performed with ultrasound guidance. A fine needle aspirate collects a sample of cells through a needle and the sample is placed on a microscope slide for viewing by a clinical pathologist. Needle aspirates can be used to diagnose some cancers; however, some cancers will not “shed” cells to be diagnosed in such a manner. Cancers that cannot be diagnosed via cytology often require a biopsy (obtaining a piece of tissue) for diagnosis. A biopsy would often require surgery to obtain depending on case.
• Your pet should be fasted overnight for its ultrasound appointment. This means no food after midnight but water access is ok. If your pet is diabetic, a small meal (~1/2 a normal meal) in the morning will be ok and you should discuss insulin dose recommendations with your veterinarian in face of being fed ½ a usual meal.