What items are checked by B-ultrasound in routine physical examination

The B-ultrasound items in routine physical examinations focus on the initial screening of high-risk diseases. The most common ones include ultrasound of the abdomen, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and thyroid ultrasound. Breast ultrasound (female), prostate ultrasound (male), and gynecological uterine appendage ultrasound are matched based on gender and age. Packages for middle-aged and elderly people usually add carotid artery ultrasound.

Speaking of which, the settings of these projects are actually based on high-risk diseases. Now the detection rate of fatty liver, gallbladder polyps, thyroid nodules, and breast nodules ranks among the top abnormalities in physical examinations all year round. B-ultrasound does not have ionizing radiation, is fast to operate, and has sufficient recognition of soft tissues. It is like a "dynamic scan" of internal organs. The size and shape of the organs, as well as the presence of abnormal nodules and cysts can be seen without surgery, which is just suitable for large-scale routine primary screening. Last year, I accompanied my cousin who had just graduated from the job for a physical examination. Her basic package only included abdominal B-ultrasound. This year, she took the initiative to add thyroid and breast ultrasound during her annual physical examination. She said that many of her colleagues around her had been diagnosed with thyroid nodules, so it was safe to check.

Many people must have had the experience of being asked to fast or hold back urine during a B-ultrasound. This is not because the doctor deliberately made things difficult for people, but because the examination requirements for different parts of the body are indeed different. A liver, gallbladder, pancreas and spleen ultrasound requires fasting for more than 8 hours. A colleague of mine secretly drank a sip of milk tea while rushing for a physical examination. When it was his turn for the B-ultrasound, the doctor said that the gallbladder had contracted and the pancreas was severely blocked by the distended stomach, so he had to come back for a make-up the next day. If you want to do transabdominal gynecological ultrasound or kidney-ureter ultrasound, you need to hold in your urine in advance to hold up your bladder. This is equivalent to building a "sound-transparent window" for the organs behind the uterus and appendages, so that the doctor can see more clearly. Married women can also choose transvaginal ultrasound, which does not require holding in urine and can see more accurately.

There is now a lot of discussion about the selection of B-ultrasound items for routine physical examinations. Some people think that young people under the age of 30 who have no underlying diseases or family history do not need to do thyroid and breast B-ultrasounds every year, which is excessive screening. Others think that young people stay up late and are under a lot of stress. The age of onset of such nodules is getting earlier and earlier, and early screening is more reliable. The current general clinical advice is that if you are under 25 years old and have no relevant discomfort or family history, you can have a check-up every two years. If you are over 25 years old, a check-up once a year is enough. You don’t need to check too frequently, and you don’t need to listen to salesmen to add unnecessary items. For example, if you don’t have high blood pressure, diabetes, or long-term dizziness symptoms, there is really no need to go for a carotid artery ultrasound in your 20s. If you find some minor physiological problems, it will only increase anxiety.