An examination of the abdominal cavity should be prepared in advance. After all, this affects the quality of the diagnosis. Ultrasound, you can see the following organs: stomach, gall bladder, spleen, liver, pancreas, intestines, kidneys, ureters, bladder, uterus (in women), prostate (in men), adrenal glands.
Preparation for the procedure
By registering for an examination, you need to find out in advance what to do before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, what you can eat. This will determine how accurate the results of the procedure will be. Products that cause bloating and flatulence fall under the ban. Also, the patient will need to refuse to take certain medications.
In some cases, the doctor may recommend a good bowel cleansing. It must be remembered that a few days before the procedure, you need to drink herbs that help improve digestion and reduce gas. Tea made from chamomile, mint, lemon balm is suitable for these purposes.
Some doctors, answering the question whether it is possible to eat before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, advise to drink enzyme preparations for several days before the examination. It can be ordinary activated carbon or Festal.
Essential Diet: How and When to Start Preparing
An ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity will not be quality if you do not start a diet on time. It should last at least three days before the procedure. An ultrasound specialist or the doctor who sent the patient for examination can explain what you can eat before an abdominal ultrasound.
Nutrition should be balanced and complete. You should not take long breaks between meals. You need to plan your day so that food gets into the stomach every 3-4 hours. You need to eat at least 4 times a day.
Every day, the patient should eat cereals and low-fat varieties of fish and meat. You can also include in the daily menu 1 boiled egg, cheese. Drinking is allowed only weak tea and water without gas.
If a person has a digestive problem, frequent constipation, then it is better to stick to a diet for 5 days. It is advisable that between the examination and the last meal took 8-12 hours, so it makes no sense to find out from the doctor whether it is possible to have breakfast before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity.
Examination of the smallest patients
Breasts and preschool children are often prescribed ultrasound diagnostics. Toddlers need to be prepared for the procedure in much the same way as adults. But it is difficult for them to withstand before the examination for more than 8 hours without food. Therefore, there are other requirements for them.
Breast-fed children are not fed just 2-4 hours before the study. Water is not given 1 hour before the procedure. The time for ultrasound is selected so that the examination is carried out before the upcoming next feeding.
Children under the age of 3 years are advised to skip 1 feeding before the procedure. But they can also be examined early in the morning (before breakfast). Children from 3 years of age and older should about 6 hours before the “starve” procedure. That is why the examination is carried out in the morning, while the child has not yet eaten. Drinking is allowed no later than 1 hour before the procedure.
The remaining rules regarding what you can eat before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity remain unchanged. It is not necessary for children to give fruit and vegetable purees a day before the study. They can be digested too long.
Prohibited Products List
Before the examination, the patient should do everything possible to minimize the likelihood of gas formation in the intestine. Therefore, many products fall under the ban. Among them:
- brown bread and muffin (the amount of white bread must be minimized);
- fresh fruits (will have to abandon apricots, apples, peaches, pears, etc.);
- legumes: lentils, peas, beans;
- dairy products;
- whole milk;
- vegetables: potatoes, cabbage, onions, asparagus, etc .;
- you can not any spices that irritate the intestines (this: coriander, cumin, pepper, cinnamon);
- fatty varieties of fish and meat;
- alcohol and carbonated drinks.
A person who is going for an examination must adhere to a strict diet for three days . Only in this case can we expect that the diagnosis will be carried out correctly.
Preparation: three days before the examination
Everyone, independently or with the help of a doctor, must figure out what to do before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. What you can eat, you need to find out separately. For three days, you need to change the diet. Food should enter the stomach 4-5 times a day. Breaks between meals should be no more than 4 hours, with the exception of night time. Every day you need to drink more than 1.5 liters of water.
All products that are prohibited should be excluded from the diet. You can eat the following:
- cereals on the water: barley, oat, buckwheat, linseed;
- boiled eggs (not more than 1 pc. per day);
- lean beef, skinless chicken, fish;
- lean cheese.
All products can be baked, steamed, boiled, stewed.
Patients who suffer from flatulence are prescribed special drugs. The doctor may advise taking activated charcoal, Enteros-gel or Espumisan. It is also easy to prevent gas formation with the help of enzyme agents such as Creon, Mezim, Pangrol, Festal.
The day before ultrasound
On the day preceding the examination, you must be very careful about what to do before ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. What you can eat must be chosen with great care.
Throughout the day, the patient can adhere to generally accepted recommendations and eat cereals and lean meat. But on the eve of the study, we must once again recall whether it is possible to eat before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. The restrictions become even more stringent in the evening. Starting at 20:00 it is advisable to completely refuse food. Therefore, a light dinner should be eaten before this hour.
In the evening, doctors advise giving up meat and fish products. They can be digested for a long time and interfere with a full examination. If a person has a tendency to constipation, then a laxative will be prescribed. It will be necessary to drink in the region of 16 hours. This time will be enough to fully cleanse the intestines before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. What you can eat and what drugs should be taken, the patient should remember. But the doctor should prescribe the funds. It can be "Senade", "Senadeksin" and so on. Also, such patients are advised to start drinking the Espumisan, Meteospasmil, or Simethicon the day before the examination.
If laxatives did not have the expected effect, then mechanical cleaning is necessary - an enema.
Examination day
If the procedure is scheduled for the morning hours, then it makes no sense to find out what you can eat before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. Breakfast must be refused. Only those cases when the examination will be carried out in the evening fall under the exception. In this situation, you can eat a light breakfast.
Experts advise you to drink activated charcoal (about 10 tablets) or 2 capsules of Simethicon before the procedure. This must be done a couple of hours before the examination. People suffering from excessive gas formation, it is advisable to do an enema in the morning.
Immediately before the ultrasound, you can not smoke, drink water, chew gum, take antispasmodics, dissolve lozenges. All this can affect the diagnostic results.
How is the procedure
Many worry about what you can eat before an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, and forget to ask about how the procedure is performed. She is absolutely painless. The doctor using a contact sensor examines the internal organs. To conduct the examination, the patient lies on the couch.
With a standard examination:
- watching the liver and gall bladder;
- evaluate retroperitoneal space, vessels;
- check the condition of the stomach, pancreas.
The remaining authorities check if this is indicated in the direction of the examination.
Immediately after the completion of the examination, the patient can return to their usual lifestyle. Further examination and treatment will be prescribed by the doctor who sent the patient for this diagnosis.