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tvpjournal.com | January/February 2016 | Today's VeTerinary PracTice imaging essenTiaLs Peer reviewed 109 abdominal ultrasonography is a noninvasive technique that provides cross-sectional anatomy of the organs of the abdomen based on differences in acoustic impedance. The frst 3 articles in this series, available at tvpjournal.com, have discussed: • Basics of Ultrasound Transducers & image Formation (January/February 2015) • Physical Principles of artifacts & False assumptions (may/June 2015) • Basics of imaging optimization—How to obtain High-Quality scans (november/december 2015). ABDOMINAL TOUR a systematic pattern for scanning the abdomen is an important aspect of any abdominal ultrasound (Us) examination. in approaching abdominal ultrasonography, the practitioner should identify the questions the scan needs to answer; however, a negative Us scan does not rule out disease. For abdominal Us , the dog or cat can be in dorsal or lateral recumbency; both scanning techniques are equally effective. This article discusses a systematic approach to scanning the abdomen using a dorsally recumbent technique; however, the approach is just as applicable to scanning in lateral recumbency. The sonographer must learn to scan the patient in either position. The systematic approach: 1. starts in the cranial abdomen (at the liver) 2. Proceeds in a clockwise fashion that extends around the outside of the abdomen 3. comes back in a counterclockwise fashion to incorporate the gastrointestinal tract and middle abdomen (see Checklist for Systematic Approach to the Abdomen, available at tvpjournal.com/clinical-resources). step 1 and part of step 2 are covered in this article; the remainder of step 2 and step 3 will be covered in the next article. small animal abdominal Ultrasonography A Tour of The Abdomen: PArT 1 Danielle Mauragis, AS, CVT, and Clifford R. Berry, DVM, Diplomate ACVR University of Florida Welcome to our series of articles on small animal abdominal ultrasonography. The frst 3 articles provided an overview of basic ultrasonography principles, while this article and the next will review a systematic pattern for scanning the abdomen. Future articles will discuss scanning principles and normal sonographic appearance of abdominal organs and systems as well as identifcation of common abnormalities seen during ultrasound examination. Figure 1. Transducer placement on the abdomen of a dog in dorsal recumbency: The transducer is placed perpendicular to the skin and is just caudal to the xiphoid process ( A); the transducer notch is pointing cranially as the image is in long axis with the dog. The transducer angled cranially ( B); all images would be considered long-axis views and in a sagittal plane. A B