Abdomen Sonography: Gallbladder Pathology 1 - Video Lesson

Hey everyone, and welcome back to our abdominal ultrasound series. Today, we're focusing on pathologies of the gallbladder, specifically inflammatory and functional disorders. We'll review sonographic technique, the key features of common pathologies, and how to correlate your findings with clinical symptoms. Let's get started. When evaluating the gallbladder, it's important to have the patient in a fasting state. The patient should fast from six to twelve hours, depending on your department's protocols. This allows the gallbladder to be fully distended for better wall assessment and potential stone visualization. Scanning must occur in multiple planes, making sure to also include both supine and left lateral decubitus positions to evaluate any gallstone mobility. For this, we use a high frequency curvilinear transducer when possible and utilize color Doppler to assess for wall hyperemia in suspected inflammation.