Pelvic Ultrasound

Ultrasound creates pictures of the internal organs from sound waves and can be found today in every major hospital and in many doctors' offices. This technology is useful for the general health care of women. It is especially valuable during pregnancy and childbirth. This pamphlet explains ultrasound and discusses the many ways it is used.

In pregnancy, this technology is used to tell the age of the fetus. It is also used to try to detect any abnormalities with the fetus, placenta, uterus or ovaries. It is often used to follow growth of the fetus with complications of pregnancy such as pregnancy-induced hypertension or diabetes of pregnancy.

In gynecology, the pelvic ultrasound can be used as another tool to confirm or detect an abnormality of the female reproductive organs such as ovarian cysts or tumors, fibroids tumors in the uterus, cysts of the fallopian tubes and more. Often the person who performs the ultrasound may ask you to come to your appointment with a full bladder. This is because the uterus is much easier to find with the bladder full. You may then be asked to empty your bladder. A transvaginal probe may be used to evaluate the problem more. This is usually a more accurate method since this transducer is so much closer to the actual area.