How is prostate ultrasound done? This is a common question. We will understand it in more detail.
Ultrasound examination of human tissues and organs has long been an integral part of medical diagnosis. Urology also did not stand aside, in which, using ultrasound, specialists can make the correct diagnoses and conduct competent treatment of urogenital pathologies. An ultrasound of the prostate stands out against this background. Such a diagnostic method allows you to determine and start the treatment of numerous pathologies of the prostate and adjacent organs in time.
Transrectal (i.e. rectal) and transabdominal (i.e., through the anterior abdominal wall) examination of the prostate gland are distinguished. As an additional method, ultrasound can also be performed through the perineum. The results obtained during the study are decrypted by the urologist.
Transabdominal examination
This diagnostic method is the most affordable and does not cause difficulties to either doctors or specialists. The study is conducted through the front wall of the peritoneum of a man. This method has no contraindications, but there are a number of limitations:
- insufficient fullness of the bladder;
- drainage tubes;
- wounds after operations.
Warning pathological signals
Ultrasound of the prostate is performed both for diagnostic purposes in relation to a disease that has manifested itself in the body, and for prevention if a person is not concerned about obvious symptoms. Regarding the evidence, it can be said that such complaints of patients may be their quality:
- pain in the lower abdomen;
- discomfort, pain and pain during urination;
- pathological formations of the scrotum and prostate gland, noticed by a urologist;
- infertility;
- changes in the general analysis of urine of an unclear nature, deviations in the results of a spermogram;
- vague dysuria;
- defects of potency.
Written reviews and videos of urologists posted on the Internet indicate that most often due to ultrasound of the prostate in men, it is possible to clarify the presence of pathology, the neglect of the disease and its nature.
Some doctors claim that ultrasound is not inferior in quality to such complex procedures as MRI. Analysis and interpretation of ultrasound is carried out by a specialist in functional diagnostics in place. Thanks to this, you can not worry about waiting for the results.
Training
Although the procedure is quite simple, it still requires preparation. Otherwise, ultrasound of the prostate will not be done. How to prepare for this manipulation? A man should come to see a doctor with a full bladder. When this organ is filled with liquid, it plays the role of a special lens through which ultrasound passes, and allows a good view of the area of interest. Before the procedure (about an hour), it is enough to drink a liter of water, so that after you feel a slight urge to urinate. It is necessary to correctly calculate the time, otherwise the filling will be weak, and the study will be carried out only with full filling. If the bladder is full, the patient will be extremely uncomfortable when moving the device along the wall of the peritoneum. Preparation for prostate ultrasound in men is very important.
Procedure
Transabdominal ultrasound is performed by a special sensor. The man lies on the couch. The specialist applies a special gel to the front wall of the peritoneum and an ultrasound scanner, which facilitates sliding on the skin of the sensor and eliminates the air gap. The latter is able to distort the resulting image and affect the decryption in the future. How do ultrasound of the prostate in men, interesting to many.
Scanning is carried out in the transverse and longitudinal planes. If you need to consider certain areas of the body in more detail, a specialist can arbitrarily move the scanner. At the same time, an analysis of the bladder, as well as ultrasound through the perineum.
The procedure lasts about ten minutes on average. To determine the residual urine, the man will be asked to go to the toilet and repeat an ultrasound scan. This technique allows you to identify how much urine remains in the bladder after it has been empty. The norm of this indicator is 50 ml.
Typically, the results of the analysis are given to the patient immediately. In addition to information about the prostate, a specialist can also provide photographs of the gland for the purpose of a more accurate examination.
The procedure can be carried out exclusively by a specially trained doctor. Decrypt its results can only competent specialists. Some information will be provided by the sonologist during the procedure or after it, and more complete information and decryption will be provided by the urologist. If there are any deviations in the results, the doctor will prescribe competent therapy.
Transrectal examination
Prostate TRUS differs from the previous variety in that the sensor is inserted through the anus of a man. Thanks to this, maximum proximity with the object of study is achieved, and you can get the most clear image. Thus, the quality of diagnosis is increased several times, which means that the accuracy of diagnosis of diseases will also improve. The price for this type of ultrasound is higher than for transabdominal, but it is worth it, since the analysis of the state of the organ is much better, the decoding is more accurate. In this case, preparation is also needed.
Features of preparation
In some research centers, it is indicated that preparation for transrectal ultrasound is not necessary. However, due to the fact that the procedure is performed rectally, for the purpose of hygiene, an enema is required before it, which will cleanse the body. It is not necessary to use any devices; pharmacies have an enema that contains a special drug. Thanks to it, feces soften, intestinal motility accelerates, and bowel movements become less traumatic and soft. Two days before the procedure, it is necessary to exclude from your diet such products that stimulate intestinal gas formation. On the evening before, you need to take some sorbent. A transrectal ultrasound is performed on an empty stomach. In some cases, the doctor may ask the patient to take a liter of still water, and it should be drunk about an hour before the examination.
The main thing in preparing a man for ultrasound is a psychological attitude. Since the manipulation is rectal, the study can be complicated by nervous strain and uncomfortable sensations. Naturally, a little nervous is normal, since the examination is performed rectally, and for many patients this is the most unpleasant moment. However, there is no need to dramatize, because it is only a medical procedure. That is why you need to take a sedative before the process.
Features of TRUS
Ultrasound of the prostate will require a condom, which is put on the scanner. Such a manipulation is completely painless, if the mood is correct, then there will be no discomfort. The whole procedure lasts about twenty minutes.
It is carried out as follows:
- after preparation at home, the patient goes to the office and after the invitation of an assistant or a doctor frees the lower body from clothes;
- the patient is laid on the right side on the couch, bending his legs in the hip joints and knees;
- the doctor puts on a condom on the sensor, applies the gel and rectally injects 5-7 centimeters deep; it will not hurt because the sensor is small;
- the specialist examines and gives the patient a conclusion.
What is the norm of ultrasound of the prostate?
Decryption Features
The condition of the prostate gland is evaluated by a specialist competent in this matter. If there are pathologies, then the decryption is as follows:
- in the presence of benign hyperplasia, the volumes of the gland change, there are extraneous formations;
- with chronic prostatitis, echogenicity is enhanced;
- inflammatory processes reduce echogenicity;
- due to neoplasms, clear contour boundaries are blurred, the size of the lymph nodes increases;
- existing stones and cavities are determined during the study as separate areas with reduced tissue ability to absorb ultrasonic waves.
The prostate gland is finally formed by the age of 25. In the absence of pathological abnormalities, the prostate body does not change in size. If there are diseases, then transformations of structural units, volumes are determined, various neoplasms appear.
Normally, the dimensions of the prostate with ultrasound are as follows:
- 2.3-4 cm - width;
- 1.5-2.5 cm - thickness;
- the volume is established due to the product of the indicators of the body, which are multiplied by 1.06.
Other information is deviations and needs a detailed analysis of the problem, additional diagnostics, as well as the appointment of competent treatment.
Ultrasound of the prostate: reviews
The opinions of people about this procedure are contradictory. Especially men do not like rectal examination. It causes not so much pain as moral and physical discomfort. Patients like regular ultrasound more. This diagnostic method is very informative, quite quick and painless.