FAQ
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Bowel ultrasound, also known as intestinal ultrasound (IUS), applies traditional abdominal ultrasound techniques to visualise the bowel wall and surrounding structures. It is safe, quick, non-invasive and requires no preparation. This makes is very acceptable from a patient perspective.
Bowel ultrasound can assess the terminal ileum and most parts of the large bowel (colon) apart from the rectum (last 15cm). Bowel ultrasound can identify abnormalities such as thickening of the bowel wall and increased blood flow both of which may reflect bowel inflammation. It can also identify complications of Crohn’s disease such as strictures or fistulae. These findings can be useful in assisting with diagnoses, informing medical management and/or directing further investigations.
A bowel ultrasound can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes, but may take even longer in the setting of prior bowel surgery, or complex IBD.
Melbourne bowel ultrasound offers bowel ultrasound services on weekdays and weekends. We are currently able to offer a no-gap service on weekdays , with a co-payment charged on weekends to cover additional costs.
- An SMS (text message) reminder will be sent up to 48 hours before your scheduled ultrasound.
- Please confirm that you will be attending by replying to the SMS (text message).
- If you are a new patient, please complete the new patient registration form
No you do NOT need to fast before your bowel ultrasound
- Medicare card
- Recent bowel investigations (e.g. colonoscopy or MRI reports) may be helpful if you have complex Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
Bowel ultrasound has utility in monitoring disease activity in patients with IBD and also has emerging utility in the investigation of non-specific GI complaints such as IBS.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Bowel ultrasound has established utility in monitoring disease activity in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. As safe, fast, and non-invasive investigation, bowel ultrasound can be easily repeated at short intervals, making it particularly useful in monitoring short- and medium-term response to therapy. Bowel ultrasound can also be used to evaluate segments of the small bowel not visualised during standard colonoscopy. Bowel ultrasound is often used in conjunction with other non-invasive biomarkers such as faecal calprotectin, and may prove useful in differentiating between active IBD and IBS.
- Non-specific GI complaints
As a safe non-invasive method of visualising the bowel, ultrasound also has emerging utility in investigating non-specific GI symptoms such as diarrhoea, altered bowel habit, and abdominal pain.
In the absence of any obvious risks, bowel ultrasound is suitable for most patients. However the quality of ultrasound images may be impacted by several factors including an elevated body mass index (BMI) and prior surgical history.
Yes – bowel ultrasound is radiation-free making it safe during all trimesters of pregnancy. However, bowel ultrasound is most informative before 20 weeks of gestation following which the image quality may be limited due to a gravid uterus.