Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

[MUSIC PLAYING] If you have inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, you may have an intestinal ultrasound exam. This quick, painless examination allows your provider to see inside your intestines, assess whether a disease is active, and whether you're responding to therapy. Your Chicago Medicine offers intestinal ultrasound for both adults and pediatric patients. Here's what you can generally expect from your first intestinal ultrasound exam.

Before your appointment, you won't likely need any special preparation. Eating and drinking prior to the exam is actually encouraged. An intestinal ultrasound trained gastroenterologist will perform your ultrasound. They will greet you and explain the procedure.

Hi, John. I'm Dr. Cleveland.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too. I'll be doing your intestinal ultrasound exam today.

You will then lie on the examination table. And warm gel will be applied to your abdomen. The physician will then use a small handheld device called a transducer to send sound waves into your abdomen. The sound waves create images on the monitor in real time, allowing the doctor to evaluate your intestines.

The examination is not painful. If there is inflammation in your small or large intestines, the physician will be able to see that on the monitor and even show it to you. The entire process usually takes under 30 minutes. Your gastroenterologist will use the results to monitor your Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, adjust your treatment plan as needed, and monitor for complications.

So overall, I don't see any active inflammation. I think your therapy is working well. We don't need to make any changes. Intestinal ultrasound is a highly effective tool for monitoring your inflammatory bowel disease. It is safe, non-invasive, and does not expose you to radiation as other monitoring tools might.

Importantly, this is the only test that can assess your disease activity in real time, allowing for rapid clinical decision-making. If you have any questions, be sure to ask your IBD provider for more information.

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