Tennova North Hospital Complete Abdomen Protocol
Lyssa Zimmerman
South College Imaging Program
DMS 1350
Professor Taylor
March 10, 2023
Tennova North Hospital Complete Abdomen Protocol
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In Tennova North, we get a fair amount of patients who get scheduled for an
Abdomen complete exam. The patient is complaining of pain. It is usually in one of the
four quadrants. The first step in figuring out what is going on is to get an ultrasound
done.
First thing we do, after we confirm their identity, is ask them what is wrong or why
they are there. It helps us understand what type of pain and where it is in their abdomen
so we can get an idea of what could be wrong. We will image all the parts of the
abdomen but it helps to listen to the patient to be more familiar and keep an eye out for
anything in that area.
We have the patient lie down supine, adjust the height of the patient and we lift
their shirt and tuck it in with a towel. We first start the probe in transverse and take a
look at the pancreas. We scan and image the head, body and tail. We may throw on
color if we want to check the location.
Next we move into the aorta. We are still transverse as we image and measure
in prox, mid and distal & bifurcation. We then go back and do it in sagittal on prox, mid
and distal. We also take measurements and image those as well. We throw color on
there in each plane for flow.
Our next organ we cover is the liver. We start sagittal at the midline and sweep
to the left lobe of the liver as we occasionally take images. In this plane, we image the
IVC, with and without color. We include the Caudate lobe with that one. We then move
to the Right Lobe with visualization of the dome. We are still in sagittal. Once we sweep
through the Right Lobe, we go back to the Left Lobe and do that all in Transverse.
Keeping the patient in Supine, we bring the probe to the right lobe of the Liver
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and finish sweeping through that. Next is the Gallbladder. We sweep down the edge of
the rib cage to the right to find the Gallbladder. If we can’t find a good visual, then we
will have the patient move to Left Lateral Decubitus. Moving the patient will help move
things around and have a better visual of the Gallbladder. Also, if they have gallstones,
then this will help us know as it moves around. We image and measure Gallbladder
sagittal and transverse in this position, as well as find the CBD and Main Portal Vein.
We will throw color on it and measure the CBD, inner to inner wall. From there, we shift
to the right kidney in sagittal and transverse, also imaging Morrison’s Pouch. We also
measure and throw color on it.
Next we have the patient roll Right Lateral Decubitus and do the Spleen in
sagittal and transverse, with and without measurements. Then we wrap it up with the
left Kidney in sagittal and transverse, measuring it as well.
The exam usually takes the techs about 15 to 20 minutes to do the procedure.
We make sure the gel has been all wiped off before we remove the towels and let the
patient know they can put their shirts back down. We then lower the exam bed and help
them up if they need it. We let the patient know that we will be sending these images to
the radiologist and they will be in contact with their doctor. The patients are appreciative
of the exam and are happy to be done.
Tennova North Hospital Complete Abdomen Protocol
Reference List
1. Tennova North Abdomen Worksheet. abdomen protocol.pdf
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