SOFT TISSUES
Abdominal exam – liver, gallbladder and biliary system, stomach, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, adrenals, bladder, prostate, uterus, ovaries, bowel, vasculature, lymph nodes, mesenteric and serosal surfaces
Thoracic exam – If a mass effect exists on thoracic radiography, and the lesion is along the thoracic wall or the lesion is suspended in pleural effusion, the lesion may be found with ultrasound. If it can be seen, in many cases it can be biopsied to yield a diagnosis.
Pregnancy – confirm pregnancy, estimate litter size, and confirm fetal viability
Neck – salivary glands, lymph nodes, thyroid and parathyroid glands
ULTRASOUND-GUIDED FLUID CAVITY CENTESIS
Ascites
Pericardial effusion
Pleural effusion
Cystocentesis – agitated collection technique for urinalysis and MIC
ULTRASOUND-GUIDED BIOPSY
Tru-cut tissue core biopsies (14 ga.)
A clotting profile is required prior to the procedure, and the patient will need sedation under the supervision of the primary care veterinarian.
FINE-NEEDLE BIOPSY
Generally, no clotting profile or sedation is necessary to obtain samples. Many disease types will yield diagnostic samples by fine-needle biopsy alone. Samples are to be submitted by the primary care veterinarian to their laboratory of choice.