Prostate, Bladder and Abdomen

What You Should Know About Your Ultrasound Examination
You will be having an examination of one or more organs in your pelvis and abdomen using ultrasound.  Although you may have heard about ultrasound before, or possibly been examined with ultrasound in the past, you still may have questions about your examination. This leaflet is based on information provided by the  American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) - an association of doctors, sonographers and scientists - and is offered by the Men’s Health Centre to explain how ultrasound works, and that it is painless and safe.

What Is Ultrasound?
Ultrasound is like ordinary sound except it has a frequency (or pitch) higher than human beings can hear. When sent into the body from a transducer resting on a patient's skin, the sound is reflected off internal structures. The returning echoes are received by the transducer and converted by an electronic instrument into an image of the internal structures on a viewing screen. These continually changing images can be recorded on film, paper, videotape, or computer. Diagnostic ultrasound imaging is commonly called sonography or ultrasonography. In a pelvic or abdominal examination, ultrasound produces images of the major organs, including the prostate, liver, bladder, kidneys, and large blood vessels such as the aorta.

What is Doppler Ultrasound?
Doppler ultrasound is a special form of ultrasound used in evaluating blood flow to the various organs of the body. It can be displayed in variable formats: either a spectrum of colours within blood vessels, or a graph showing changes in velocity.

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Are There Any Special Preparations for the Exam?
Please avoid passing urine for at least one hour before the examination.

Will It Hurt?
There is no pain involved in an ultrasound examination of your abdomen. The transducer is placed on the skin surface after a gel is applied to your abdomen to provide better contact. The gel may feel cool and may temporarily stain clothes, so you may want to wear easily washable clothing. To get a clear image of the prostate, and measure its size and shape, a finger-sized probe is passed into the rectum, which is no more uncomfortable than a motion.  No biopsies will be taken.

How Long Will It Take?
The length of time for the examination varies with the complexity of the exam and requirements in each patient, but is usually no more than half an hour.

Is Ultrasound Safe?
There are no known harmful effects associated with the medical use of ultrasound. Widespread clinical use of diagnostic ultrasound for many years has not revealed any harmful effects.

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