Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Abdominal CT finds more lesions than ultrasound in large sedated dogs
By Fields, Erica L et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2012·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparison of abdominal computed tomography and abdominal ultrasound in sedated dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study compared two imaging methods, ultrasound and computed tomography (CT), for detecting abdominal problems in sedated dogs. In dogs weighing less than 25 kg, both methods found similar numbers of issues. However, in larger dogs over 25 kg, CT was better at spotting more lesions, including those that could be clinically significant. This suggests that for larger dogs, CT may be a more effective tool for diagnosing abdominal diseases without needing general anesthesia.
People also search for: dog abdominal ultrasound vs CT scan · why is my dog having abdominal pain · dog abdominal disease diagnosis
Abstract
Abdominal ultrasound (US) is used frequently as a first-line screening tool for abdominal disease. Although computed tomography (CT) is superior to US in the diagnosis of some abdominal diseases, a major impediment is the requirement of general anesthesia to prevent motion and for safe restraint. With multidetector helical CT, faster examinations allow general anesthesia to be avoided, while producing diagnostic-quality images. Abdominal US and CT were compared for lesion detection in 27 sedated dogs, divided into three even groups based on body weight. Lesions were categorized further as to subjective clinical relevance. In dogs less than 25 kg, there is no significant difference in lesion detection between CT and US. In dogs weighing greater than 25 kg, more lesions were detected with CT than with US (P = 0.0001), including clinically relevant lesions (P = 0.0277). From these results, it appears that CT has an advantage in lesion detection in dogs greater than 25 kg, making it a better screening test for abdominal disease in these patients.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22612269/