Ultrasound is a procedure that uses sound waves to “see” inside your body. An arterial duplex ultrasound uses sound waves to create a color map of the arteries in your arms or legs.
Learn More About Arterial Ultrasound
A venous ultrasound of the upper or lower extremities provides pictures of the veins and the blood flow within the veins of the arms or legs. An arterial ultrasound of the upper or lower extremities provides pictures of the arteries and the blood flow within the arteries of the arms or legs.
A Doppler ultrasound study – a technique that evaluates blood flow through a blood vessel – is usually part of this exam. Ultrasound does not use ionizing radiation, has no known harmful effects, and provides images of soft tissues that don’t show up on x-ray images. Doppler ultrasound evaluates the speed and direction of blood as it flows through an artery or vein of the arm or leg.
You should wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing for your ultrasound exam. You may need to remove all clothing and jewelry in the area to be examined.
You may be asked to wear a gown during the procedure, a two-piece outfit is recommended for your comfort.
If your physician requested results immediately following your procedure, you will be asked to wait while the technologist calls your physician with your results and you will be given instructions from your referring physician. If your physician did not request immediate results, one of our vascular specialists will interpret your exam and send a report to your physician within 5 business days. Contact your referring physician for any information pertaining to the findings.
Ultrasound examinations are painless and easily tolerated by most patients.
After you are positioned on the examination table, the vascular technologist will apply some warm water-based gel on your skin and then place the transducer firmly against your body, moving it back and forth over the area of interest until the desired images are captured. There is usually no discomfort from pressure as the transducer is pressed against the area being examined.
If scanning is performed over an area of tenderness, you may feel pressure or minor pain from the transducer.
Once the imaging is complete, the clear ultrasound gel will be wiped off your skin. Any portions that are not wiped off will dry quickly. The ultrasound gel does not usually stain or discolor clothing.
After an ultrasound examination, you should be able to resume your normal activities immediately.
Venous ultrasound helps to detect blood clots in the arteries before they become dislodged and pass to the lungs. It can also show the movement of blood within blood vessels. Ultrasound scanning gives a clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images.
Vessels deep in the body are harder to see than superficial vessels. Specialized equipment or other tests such as CT or MRI may be necessary to properly visualize them. Smaller vessels are more difficult to image and evaluate than larger vessels.
Calcifications that occur as a result of atherosclerosis may obstruct the ultrasound beam.
For more information on this or other procedures, please visit radiologyinfo.org