[The use of imaging procedures in gastrointestinal diseases with space-occupying lesions in children].

Sonography is gaining in importance for examination of childhood illnesses of the gastrointestinal tract. Disadvantages of ultrasound result from the gaseous elements naturally contained in the intestine. Tumors of the digestive tract can be best classified on the basis of their relationship to the tract wall and their intra- or extraluminal location. The type of echogenicity can also aid diagnosis. A differentiation between infectious pseudotumors and neoplasms is thus often possible when sonographic images are considered in combination with clinical and laboratory data. The systematic use of ultrasound also allows more precise application of endoscopy and other imaging techniques.