Kidney Ultrasound

Occasionally, some patients with diseased kidneys have renal function impairment that renders them not suitable for contrast-enhanced imaging (including some CT or MRI scans). In these circumstances, ultrasound scan would become a good option that does not bring extra burden to the diseased kidneys.
From the flanks, the left and right kidneys can be clearly visualized. When patients are noted to have blood in urine or flank pain, ultrasound scan is commonly used to detect renal stone and to exclude upper urinary system obstruction. Ultrasound scan can broadly assess renal parenchyma, including inflammatory change and chronic renal disease (for example renal disease due to diabetes mellitus). Last but not least, it can also look for renal tumours and the commonly encountered renal cysts.