X-rays and ultrasounds are often used together to diagnose disease, predict disease, and monitor treatment outcomes. This is because they are techniques that are easy to perform, do not take long, and are cost-effective. They help answer questions and find the cause of disease accurately and in a timely manner. Therefore, they are widely used in the veterinary community in our country.
Benefits of X-rays
X-rays help in diagnosing diseases and abnormalities of animal organs in all parts of the body, including the head, body, chest, abdomen, and legs, from finding specific abnormalities such as broken leg bones, dislocated joints, enlarged hearts, ruptured lungs, hernias, tumors, and gallstones, to evaluating the spread of disease such as the spread of cancer and infection, and to monitoring diseases such as pulmonary edema and fracture reunions.
Examples of the benefits of diagnostic x-rays of dogs such as
- X-rays of your dog to look for foreign objects that the dog has ingested (especially objects that are radiopaque, such as metal fragments, dense bones) and likely to cause a blockage in the digestive tract.
- Dog X-rays to check for bladder stones, kidney stones, and gallbladder stones.
- X-rays of the dog to check for the spread of the cancerous tumor to the dog's lungs.
- An X-ray of the dog is done to determine if the dog is pregnant and to count the number of puppies in the uterus. This procedure can only be performed if the dog is more than 45 days pregnant.
- Dog X-rays to assess the dog's respiratory and cardiac systems.
- X-rays of your dog to determine if it has any broken bones, such as leg bones, ribs, finger bones, spine, or skull.
- X-rays of the dog to examine the joints, such as the hips and knees, to determine if they have shifted out of place or if there is inflammation.
Preparing animals for X-rays
X-rays of sick animals generally do not require any special preparation, except in certain cases, such as hip X-rays, which may cause pain to the animal, or X-rays using special techniques that may be dangerous to the animal, such as injecting dye into the spine to detect neurological abnormalities, which require sedation or anesthesia. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare sick animals in advance by withholding water and food to reduce the risk during anesthesia.
In addition, in cases where an X-ray is required using a special technique by ingesting a contrast medium to diagnose abnormalities in the digestive system, whether in the upper or lower digestive tract, the animal should be prepared by withholding water and food, including a fecal enema, to reduce the amount of food waste that may obstruct the passage of the contrast medium administered.
Benefits of ultrasound
Ultrasound examination is very useful in evaluating abnormalities of various organs throughout the body, especially the heart, blood vessels, organs within the abdominal cavity, and various tumors by evaluating the size, shape, location, internal structure, and function of the organs. It helps to differentiate tumors from cysts, which cannot be distinguished by X-ray images. Therefore, it is suitable for examining sick animals with fluid in the abdominal cavity or chest cavity, and animals with heart disease.
In addition, ultrasound also improves the accuracy of fluid and tissue sampling for pathological diagnosis.
Preparing animals for ultrasound
For abdominal ultrasound examinations of animals, the animal should be prepared by abstaining from food containing fiber and providing a fecal enema before the examination to reduce the amount of food fiber that may interfere with or block the sound waves during the examination. For ultrasound examinations of the uterus and bladder, the animal should not abstain from water or provide a urinary enema before the examination, as urine retention in the bladder will help to make these organs more clearly visible.
Thank you for the information from Dr. Nun (Dr. Ornya Praphanphot)
Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Surgery, Department of Cardiology
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