When should an ultrasound scan be performed?

How is a gynecologic ultrasound performed?

Ultrasound is a fundamental diagnostic tool in the gynecology office. It uses ultrasound so it does not emit radiation.

We can perform the ultrasound via transabdominal or transvaginal, the latter allows us to visualize very well the internal genitalia of women, uterus and ovaries.

The procedure is painless, although the vaginal route may cause some mild discomfort.

It is performed in the gynecology office and does not require any special preparation. To improve the image obtained, a transmitting gel is applied, which may be a little cold.

The interpretation of the image is immediate and dynamic during the scan.

When is this type of ultrasound indicated?

It is performed by gynecologists in any complete gynecological examination, but it is especially indicated if there are symptoms such as pelvic pain, abnormal bleeding, abnormal gynecological examination with palpation of the uterus or enlarged ovaries, suspicion of gynecological cancer, etc.

It is also useful to diagnose and follow up a possible pregnancy, if it is viable, if it is well located in the uterus, if it is a single or multiple gestation.

What information does it provide?

It allows us to evaluate the normality or pathology of the uterus and ovaries, diagnose polyps, fibroids, endometrial and ovarian cancer and others, as well as pregnancy diagnosis.

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Are there different types of gynecological ultrasound, what are they and what are the differences between them?

We can perform ultrasound through the abdominal or transvaginal route.

In both we can apply different ultrasound modes:

  • 2D or two-dimensional ultrasound is the traditional one, in which the image appears in grayscale.
  • Doppler ultrasound: in which we can evaluate blood flows.
  • Color Doppler ultrasound: similar, but the blood flow is encoded by color image is very useful for evaluating suspected cancers that usually have many blood vessels.
  • Three-dimensional ultrasound, with its multiple 3D and 4D applications. It performs a three-dimensional reconstruction of the structures we are studying, whether it is an ovarian cyst or a baby’s face. It is also very useful to see slices of organs that we cannot evaluate with the traditional 2D form, for example, uterine morphology (suspected malformations, uterus septa, etc.) or pelvic floor study.