How to do prostate color ultrasound

Many men suffer from prostate disease. Prostate disease is also very difficult to treat and will cause serious interference to men’s sexual life and urinary system. However, most people with prostate disease are elderly men. When they go to the hospital for treatment, doctors usually recommend that patients do a color ultrasound to determine the extent of the disease. So how is a prostate color ultrasound done?

There are two ways to do prostate color ultrasound:

1. The patient drinks water, holds urine, and then checks the prostate through a full bladder, which is mainly used for screening;

2. When the patient urinates, use a transrectal probe to check the prostate. For patients diagnosed with prostatitis or hematospermia, the transrectal probe can accurately measure the size and shape of the prostate, calcification, the presence of cysts and nodules, and can also check the condition of the bilateral seminal vesicles. If there is bilateral seminal vesiculitis combined with hematospermia, you can see that the bilateral seminal vesicles are enlarged, the ducts inside are expanded, and in severe cases, there is a lot of fluid accumulation.

The contours and shapes of the normal prostate vary according to the methods of ultrasound examination. For example, when scanned transversely through the abdominal wall, the normal prostate is inverted chestnut-shaped or triangular, with blunt edges, the capsule echo is clear and neat, the internal echo is uniform, and the urethra is hyperechoic in the center; when scanned longitudinally, the prostate segment of the urethra appears as an oblique hyperechoic band. A transrectal sagittal scan can show the anterior wall of the rectum, the seminal vesicles in front, the bladder in front and above, and the prostate in front and below. In the center of the prostate, the posterior urethra and the ejaculatory ducts flowing into it can be displayed; the cross-section can clearly show the adjacent relationship between the prostate and the bladder. The normal values ​​of the prostate are 3.1cm, 3cm and 2.3cm in transverse diameter, superior and inferior diameter and anteroposterior diameter respectively.

Ultrasound screening of the prostate mainly includes transabdominal wall scan, transperineal scan, transrectal scan, and transurethral intravesical screening. Currently, transrectal screening is the most commonly used clinical method. The cross-section shape of the prostate is like an inverted chestnut, with a clear outline, complete capsule, a depression in the middle of the rectal surface, and bilateral symmetry. The normal front-to-back diameter is about 2cm, the left-to-right diameter is about 4cm, and the upper and lower diameter is about 3cm. The prostate is divided into internal glands and external glands. The internal glands are smaller, round or oval in shape, with low and uniform echoes; the external glands are larger, surrounding the internal glands, and have fine dots with strong echoes. The internal glands are located around the urethra above the seminal fluid and include the transition zone and periurethral tissue. The external glands include two parts: the peripheral area has strong echo, and the boundary with the internal glands is not very clear. In the case of prostatic hyperplasia, the boundary between them is very clear, which is the surgical capsule; the echo in the central area is very strong, and the boundary with the internal gland is clear. It mainly shows the relationship between the peripheral area and the distal urethra.

When doing a prostate color ultrasound, you need to hold back your urine. Holding back your urine is to use the bladder as a sound-transmitting window to check the prostate. If the bladder is not full, the prostate cannot be seen, and prostatic hyperplasia or thickening of the texture cannot be detected.