Jabar Ahmed Abdul, Abbas Ibrahim, Mishah Nabeel, Wazan Mohammed, Tomehy Motaen
College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University , Jeddah , Saudi Arabia.
College of Applied Medical Science, King Abdulaziz University , Jeddah , Saudi Arabia.
J Ultrason. 2020;20(80):e12-e17. doi: 10.15557/JoU.2020.0003. Epub 2020 Mar 31.
Patient preparation for routine abdominal ultrasound, such as fasting for 8 hours and having a light meal the night before the examination, is a common practice employed to avoid digestive motility and gases, which are considered the main causes of artifacts and image quality degradation. Patient preparation before abdominal ultrasound plays a major role to ensure better visualization of internal organs and pathologies by minimizing artifacts, but because abdominal gases are still present in many patients and in large amounts, causing artifacts, it is important to search for new, safe, efficient, reliable and cost-effective methods to improve patient preparation by eliminating excessive abdominal gases. This was a prospective study involving a randomly selected sample of 52 adult patients, both men and women, of different age groups. The participants met the inclusion criteria and had no history of previous or current abdominal surgery. Pediatric patients, pregnant women, patients with a history of abdominal surgery, bedridden patients, and patients with bowel obstruction were excluded. Routine abdominal ultrasound was performed after usual patient preparation involving fasting for 8 hours. Subsequently, the same patients were asked to come again after 48 hours for re-scanning and were instructed to follow the same routine preparation and to take one capsule of activated charcoal 8 hours before re-scanning. The results of both scans were compared by focusing on the pancreas as the reference. Significant improvement by 57.2% was noticed in overweight, obese and extremely obese patients. The improvement noted in underweight patients and in patients with normal weight was 39.05%. The improvement in males reached 66.9% while in females: 49.9%. The overall improvement in pancreas visualization was 63%. Our preliminary study concluded that activated charcoal can be used to reduce gastrointestinal gases efficiently, providing an inexpensive, safe and easy-to-use method to improve visualization in routine abdominal ultrasound scans in adults. Patient preparation for routine abdominal ultrasound, such as fasting for 8 hours and having a light meal the night before the examination, is a common practice employed to avoid digestive motility and gases, which are considered the main causes of artifacts and image quality degradation. Patient preparation before abdominal ultrasound plays a major role to ensure better visualization of internal organs and pathologies by minimizing artifacts, but because abdominal gases are still present in many patients and in large amounts, causing artifacts, it is important to search for new, safe, efficient, reliable and cost-effective methods to improve patient preparation by eliminating excessive abdominal gases. This was a prospective study involving a randomly selected sample of 52 adult patients, both men and women, of different age groups. The participants met the inclusion criteria and had no history of previous or current abdominal surgery. Pediatric patients, pregnant women, patients with a history of abdominal surgery, bedridden patients, and patients with bowel obstruction were excluded. Routine abdominal ultrasound was performed after usual patient preparation involving fasting for 8 hours. Subsequently, the same patients were asked to come again after 48 hours for re-scanning and were instructed to follow the same routine preparation and to take one capsule of activated charcoal 8 hours before re-scanning. The results of both scans were compared by focusing on the pancreas as the reference. Significant improvement by 57.2% was noticed in overweight, obese and extremely obese patients. The improvement noted in underweight patients and in patients with normal weight was 39.05%. The improvement in males reached 66.9% while in females: 49.9%. The overall improvement in pancreas visualization was 63%. Our preliminary study concluded that activated charcoal can be used to reduce gastrointestinal gases efficiently, providing an inexpensive, safe and easy-to-use method to improve visualization in routine abdominal ultrasound scans in adults.
常规腹部超声检查前的患者准备工作，如禁食8小时并在检查前一晚进食清淡食物，是一种常见的做法，旨在避免消化蠕动和气体，这些被认为是伪像和图像质量下降的主要原因。腹部超声检查前的患者准备工作对于通过减少伪像来确保更好地观察内部器官和病变起着重要作用，但由于许多患者体内仍存在大量腹部气体并导致伪像，因此寻找新的、安全、高效、可靠且具有成本效益的方法来通过消除过多的腹部气体改善患者准备工作非常重要。这是一项前瞻性研究，涉及从不同年龄组中随机抽取的52名成年男女患者样本。参与者符合纳入标准，且无既往或当前腹部手术史。儿科患者、孕妇、有腹部手术史的患者、卧床患者和肠梗阻患者被排除在外。在进行常规的禁食8小时的患者准备后进行常规腹部超声检查。随后，要求同一批患者在48小时后再来进行重新扫描，并指示他们遵循相同的常规准备，并在重新扫描前8小时服用一粒活性炭胶囊。以胰腺作为参考，比较两次扫描的结果。超重、肥胖和极度肥胖患者的改善率达到57.2%。体重过轻和体重正常的患者的改善率为39.05%。男性的改善率达到66.9%，而女性为49.9%。胰腺可视化的总体改善率为63%。我们的初步研究得出结论，活性炭可有效减少胃肠道气体，为改善成人常规腹部超声扫描的可视化提供一种廉价、安全且易于使用的方法。常规腹部超声检查前的患者准备工作，如禁食8小时并在检查前一晚进食清淡食物，是一种常见的做法，旨在避免消化蠕动和气体，这些被认为是伪像和图像质量下降的主要原因。腹部超声检查前的患者准备工作对于通过减少伪像来确保更好地观察内部器官和病变起着重要作用，但由于许多患者体内仍存在大量腹部气体并导致伪像，因此寻找新的、安全、高效、可靠且具有成本效益的方法来通过消除过多的腹部气体改善患者准备工作非常重要。这是一项前瞻性研究，涉及从不同年龄组中随机抽取的52名成年男女患者样本。参与者符合纳入标准，且无既往或当前腹部手术史。儿科患者、孕妇、有腹部手术史的患者、卧床患者和肠梗阻患者被排除在外。在进行常规的禁食8小时的患者准备后进行常规腹部超声检查。随后，要求同一批患者在48小时后再来进行重新扫描，并指示他们遵循相同的常规准备，并在重新扫描前8小时服用一粒活性炭胶囊。以胰腺作为参考，比较两次扫描的结果。超重、肥胖和极度肥胖患者的改善率达到57.2%。体重过轻和体重正常的患者的改善率为39.05%。男性의改善率达到66.9%，而女性为49.9%。胰腺可视化的总体改善率为63%。我们的初步研究得出结论，活性炭可有效减少胃肠道气体，为改善成人常规腹部超声扫描的可视化提供一种廉价、安全且易于使用的方法。
