Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2014
Introduction
Diagnostic medical ultrasound was first developed in the 1960s but it did not become part of routine clinical practice until the late 1970s. Transvaginal ultrasound scanning was introduced in the 1980s and it has expanded rapidly because of the improved quality of pelvic imaging provided by high frequency (5–7 Hz) transducers. Although the transvaginal view of the pelvis is more limited in comparison with transabdominal scans, in most cases it is sufficient for a thorough evaluation of the uterus and adnexa. This advantage is particularly apparent in women who are overweight and in those with a retroverted uterus.
It is important that, before commencing a scan, a complete medical history is taken. Ultrasound examination should complement rather than replace clinical assessment, which ensures the appropriate interpretation of the scan findings. Use of gynaecological scan without an appropriate history or indication will almost certainly yield a multiplicity of abnormal scan findings, which may be clinically irrelevant and which may result in inappropriate management. Ultrasound examination follows the principles of clinical palpation. This combined examination is often helpful when trying to identify the source of pelvic pain or assessing mobility and tenderness of a pelvic mass. It can also be valuable in establishing the presence or absence of a lesion. This is particularly important in patients who are difficult to examine clinically (because of obesity, lack of relaxation or involuntary guarding) or where there is a conflict between the findings at clinical pelvic examination and the patient's symptoms.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.