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tvpjournal.com | September/October 2016 | T O day' S Ve T erinary Prac T ice i maging e SS en T ia LS Peer r eviewed 61 a s discussed in the articles, A Tour of the Abdomen (Part 1, January/February 2016, and Part 2, m arch/ a pril 2016), ultrasound (US) examination of the urinary tract is typically completed in a counterclockwise fashion in the following order: • Left kidney • Urinary bladder • Proximal urethra • r ight kidney. PREPARATIOIN Prior to beginning the examination, clip the patient's hair and apply ultrasonic gel to the skin. The bladder is usually examined when it is distended with urine as an empty or minimally distended urinary bladder may appear to have thickened walls on ultrasonographic examination. m ethods of distending the urinary bladder are described under Urinary Bladder on page 62. SCANNING TECHNIQUE a 5-, 7.5-, or 10- m Hz convex, linear, or vector transducer is required to examine the distal ureters, urinary bladder, and proximal urethra, while a microconvex transducer with a small footprint allows the ultrasonographer to easily view the intrapelvic ureter. Urinary Bladder To evaluate the urinary bladder: 1. Keep the transducer positioned in long axis to the animal, and move it caudal to a level between the last 2 mammary chains. 2. e valuate the urinary bladder in long axis and short axis. 3. Be sure to examine the trigone region carefully, particularly as it extends caudally into the urethra in cats and female dogs or the prostate gland in male dogs. Urethra To evaluate the proximal urethra or, in male dogs, the prostatic urethra: 1. Place the transducer in a long-axis sagittal position at the level of the urinary bladder. 2. m ove the transducer caudally until the trigone region is identified. 3. When the transducer cannot move any farther caudally due to the presence of the pubic bone, angle the transducer footprint in a caudal direction. Small a nimal a bdominal Ultrasonography The Urinary Trac T : Urinary Bladder & Ure T hra Elizabeth Huynh, DVM, and Clifford R. Berry, DVM, Diplomate ACVR University of Florida Welcome to our series of articles on small animal abdominal ultrasonography. The initial articles provided an overview of basic ultrasonography principles and a discussion about how to perform a sonographic tour of the abdomen. The rest of the series discusses ultrasound evaluation of specific abdominal organs/systems. Read the Small Animal Abdominal Ultrasonography articles published in Today's Veterinary Practice at tvpjournal.com. The latest articles include: • A Tour of the Abdomen: Part 1 (January/February 2016) and Part 2 (March/April 2016). • Liver & Gallbladder: Part 1 (May/June 2016) and Part 2 (September/October 2016). Measuring Urinary Bladder Wall Thickness in Dogs Urinary bladder wall thickness in dogs can be calculated based on the degree of bladder distension: 1 • If the bladder is minimally distended (0.5 mL/kg), bladder wall thickness is 2.3 ± 0.43 mm. • If the bladder is mildly distended (2 mL/kg), bladder wall thickness is 1.6 ± 0.29 mm. • If the bladder is moderately distended (4 mL/kg), bladder wall thickness is 1.4 ± 0.28 mm. If urinary bladder wall thickness is suspected, differential diagnoses include cystitis and urinary bladder neoplasia.