Effect of examination time of day on the quality of real-time cholesonograms

Real-time sector scans of the gallbladder and common hepatic duct were performed at 7:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. on 16 volunteers eating a regular diet. Technically satisfactory but not ideal scans of the common duct could be obtained irrespective of dietary status or time of day. As the day progressed, about one-half of subjects having gallbladder scans showed a significant decrease in bile volume, spurious gallbladder wall thickening, or compromised images from excessive intestinal gas. The data suggest that, if possible, gallbladder imaging should be performed early in the morning after overnight fasting, even when high-resolution sector scanners are used. However, because nearly one-half of patients can have satisfactory scans under any circumstances, cholesonograms should be performed in emergency situations or in those instances where patients would suffer inconvenience or financial hardship by delay of the study for an additional day.
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