Abdomen Sonography: Implanted Medical Devices - Video Lesson

Welcome back to our abdominal extended ultrasound series. Today, we're going to discuss implanted medical devices. Understanding these devices is crucial for the sonographer because we are often responsible not only for confirming proper placement but also for evaluating function, detecting complications and providing accurate information to the clinical team. Let's get started. Let's begin with a common interventional procedure for the liver called tips or transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. These are used primarily to manage complications of portal hypertension such as variceal bleeding or refractory ascites by creating a low resistance channel between the portal and hepatic veins. On ultrasound a tips appears as a tubular echogenic structure within the liver parenchyma connecting the right portal vein to a hepatic vein. The right hepatic vein is used most often due to its size and accessibility. Color and spectral Doppler are