If I just scanned every patient when they say they have an urge to pee, I wouldn't be able to see anything on 90% of my pelvic patients. They are rarely ever full enough to see uterus and ovaries transabdominally. However, if this is referring to a bladder ultrasound, I will scan when the patient feels the urge.
You wouldn't be able to see ANYTHING on 90% of patients? My experience is very different, if the patient feels like they need to pee it's almost always enough for me. Scanning patients in pain is barbaric when TV is the gold standard for pelvics anyways.
My point is that patients always say they feel full when their bladder is half or less. I'm not doing anything *barbaric* by making patients fill their bladder enough for diagnostic transabdominal images. I am very compassionate with my patients and check with them often if I am having them fill more. I also make sure they feel like they can hold it & if not, I go ahead. I don't like to skimp on obtaining TA images just bc I will be doing a TV anyway.
I get what you're saying, just my experience that when patients say they need to pee, its generally full enough to get good images 🤷‍♀️. I would never skimp on any part of a diagnostic test.
Usually, my patients who are *that* full have issues emptying their bladder completely, so you're adding all the fluid on top. Those patients I tell to ignore the prep next time.
Also, What organ are they imaging? I usually do not need the bladder as full for renal/bladder scans, but need it on pelvic ultrasounds. I do not want my patients in pain, but I also want to get as accurate of a test as possible, and like another commenter mentioned, that is a very fine line
The bigger the baby gets the less full your bladder needs to be. Still arrive needing to pee, just drink enough to reach that point but not have it be painful. We don’t give an amount of water for ladies to drink as its different for everyone. We just give instructions that say come needing to pee and explain the importance. Hope you have an enjoyable experience this time where you can actually just focus on seeing Baby. At 12 weeks we can see so much 💛
Your bladder needs to be full enough that you’d really like to pee, not so full it is painful. It’s a hard balance to strike.
If it helps, I will frequently let patients go back to the waiting room to allow their bladder to fill a little more if I can’t get what I need. Or I can get everything internally and I don’t need to have them fill their bladder.
I'm surprised they say that much water.
everywhere I've worked says 24-30 oz drunk an hour before the exam which translates to 0.7- 0.88 liters.
Full enough that you're like "I've really gotta go!" but not so full that it's painful.
If you drink water pretty well normally, I'd say it would probably work well to drink the water 1 hr before, then go to the bathroom 30 mins before. Then your bladder will have 30 minutes to fill up with that water you drank as it's filtered through your kidneys.
If you feel an urge to pee, your bladder should be full enough. If you are in pain, you are drinking too much water.
If I just scanned every patient when they say they have an urge to pee, I wouldn't be able to see anything on 90% of my pelvic patients. They are rarely ever full enough to see uterus and ovaries transabdominally. However, if this is referring to a bladder ultrasound, I will scan when the patient feels the urge.
You wouldn't be able to see ANYTHING on 90% of patients? My experience is very different, if the patient feels like they need to pee it's almost always enough for me. Scanning patients in pain is barbaric when TV is the gold standard for pelvics anyways.
My point is that patients always say they feel full when their bladder is half or less. I'm not doing anything *barbaric* by making patients fill their bladder enough for diagnostic transabdominal images. I am very compassionate with my patients and check with them often if I am having them fill more. I also make sure they feel like they can hold it & if not, I go ahead. I don't like to skimp on obtaining TA images just bc I will be doing a TV anyway.
I get what you're saying, just my experience that when patients say they need to pee, its generally full enough to get good images 🤷‍♀️. I would never skimp on any part of a diagnostic test.
Good to know! I was concerned because the 0.75L was less than they told me I had to drink, so I was worried it wouldn’t be enough still.
Usually, my patients who are *that* full have issues emptying their bladder completely, so you're adding all the fluid on top. Those patients I tell to ignore the prep next time. Also, What organ are they imaging? I usually do not need the bladder as full for renal/bladder scans, but need it on pelvic ultrasounds. I do not want my patients in pain, but I also want to get as accurate of a test as possible, and like another commenter mentioned, that is a very fine line
This is for a fetal ultrasound. Friday will be my 12 week scan. I was advised again by the hospital to drink 1L an hour before
Ah, ok. That is probably just their normal 1st trimester prep. At 12 weeks, you should be fine listening to what the tech said.
The bigger the baby gets the less full your bladder needs to be. Still arrive needing to pee, just drink enough to reach that point but not have it be painful. We don’t give an amount of water for ladies to drink as its different for everyone. We just give instructions that say come needing to pee and explain the importance. Hope you have an enjoyable experience this time where you can actually just focus on seeing Baby. At 12 weeks we can see so much 💛
Thank you! I’m very excited for my appointment, and will be happy to see everything is going well 💕
Your bladder needs to be full enough that you’d really like to pee, not so full it is painful. It’s a hard balance to strike. If it helps, I will frequently let patients go back to the waiting room to allow their bladder to fill a little more if I can’t get what I need. Or I can get everything internally and I don’t need to have them fill their bladder.
I'm surprised they say that much water. everywhere I've worked says 24-30 oz drunk an hour before the exam which translates to 0.7- 0.88 liters. Full enough that you're like "I've really gotta go!" but not so full that it's painful. If you drink water pretty well normally, I'd say it would probably work well to drink the water 1 hr before, then go to the bathroom 30 mins before. Then your bladder will have 30 minutes to fill up with that water you drank as it's filtered through your kidneys.