What does kidney stones look like on an ultrasound?
I had an ultrasound for some abdominal pain, and the doctor said they saw a 'shadow' that might be a kidney stone. What exactly do kidney stones look like on an ultrasound image?
5 answers
4 months ago
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On an ultrasound, they just look like bright white spots with a dark shadow right behind them, which the radiologist calls acoustic shadowing. Don't waste time trying to read the black-and-white screen yourself during the scan; just wait for the written report which usually comes out in a few hours.
4 months ago
I had my scan last month and the doctor just showed me a small, glowing white spot in my left kidney and said it was a 4mm stone. I am not qualified to explain the technical details, but the radiologist will write down the exact size in the final report.
4 months ago
To be honest, to a normal person, the whole ultrasound looks like a fuzzy television screen from the 90s! But the doctor will point out this bright white speck that looks like a little star in a dark sky. Don't worry, it's the easiest test you'll ever take.
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yrs exp
4 months ago
When my son had a small stone, the doctor showed us the screen—it looked like a tiny, shining white pebble against the dark background of the kidney. It is a painless test and gets done in just ten minutes, so please don't worry about getting it done for your peace of mind.
4 months ago
They appear as bright white flecks with dark shadows. An ultrasound is very practical because it only costs around 800 to 1500 rupees in most local diagnostic centres, which is much cheaper than a CT scan and easily tells you the stone's size.