Week 6: Intro to abdomen File Not completed: Intro to abdomen Flashcards
Which one is recumbent and which one is upright? (L/R)
L is recumbent
R is upright
Why is it easier to visualize soft tissue structures in the chest and not as easy in the abdomen?
Because the chest structures are surrounded by air. In the abdomen there is less air and the margins are less visible.
Note: The gut (esophagus to rectum) may be seen on plain films where it contains air including: stomach (stomach bubble or magenblase), the colon (cecum to sigmoid) and the rectum. It is unusual for the small bowel (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) to contain air or gas densities.
4
gas shadow of … cannot localize to a portion of the colon
2
gas shadow of descending colon
3
gas shadow of sigmoid colon and rectum
1
gas shadow of ascending colon
3
transverse colon, splenic flexure and descending colon are somewhat superimposed
2
haustra
1
semilunar folds or plicae semilunaris
3
Gas in descending colon
2
Gas in cecum
1
Margin of the liver
blue lines
Bowel gas on lateral views can rarely be localized to a portion of the colon.
It can be determined to be in the colon by the large diameter of the lumen, and by the thicker, widely spaced plicae semilunaris.
blue outlines
haustra
red arrows
Plicae semilunaris
yellow circle
sigmoid colon
red circle
feces within the bowel
blue line
Gas in the colon outlined on the inside wall (mucosal surface) of the colon
red
inner margin of the abdominal wall
purple
Inferior margin of the liver
yellow
gas in splenic flexure
Note: In an upright patient, gas will tend to collect in the hepatic and splenic flexures
Note: The splenic flexure should be the highest point of bowel gas and is often very near the hemidiaphragm
blue
gas in hepatic flexure
Note: In an upright patient, gas will tend to collect in the hepatic and splenic flexures
Green circle
magenblase (stomach bubble)
Note: identified by the rounded superior border and flat (fluid level) inferior border.
Gas in rectum (blue) is a marker for what measurement? (red line)
presacral space
which should be <2cm in adults
blue
Gas in the rectum
Note: directly anterior to sacrum
blue line
margin of the bladder
remember: superimposed gas shadows are in the rectum is midline. And there is not (normally) gas in the bladder.
blue line
thin line of fat
blue line
margin of the spleen
Note: spleen is sometimes clearly visible, sometimes not seen at all. The location in the left upper quadrant and basic shape help identify it.
red line
Splenomegally
Note: An enlarged spleen is important to identify. The location and general shape help identify this as (likely) the spleen.
blue
inferior pole of the kidney
red
superior pole of the kidney
