For several years, radiation diagnostics, as never before, has become an actual and effective method for diagnosing pancreatitis in humans. As a rule, radiation examination begins with organs in the chest and abdomen. Radiography and fluoroscopy are mandatory, because only they can identify or exclude various complications of the lungs, including metastases and pseudocysts. If to speak in general, then due to radiation diagnosis, you can get all the necessary information concerning the pancreas:
- Data on the position of the gland, its shape, structure, size, its mobility during breathing, the condition of the pancreatic duct system, how it isreacts to the change of position of the patient.
- Data on adjacent organs, how much they suffered from the inflammatory process of the gland, in what state is the system of pancreatic blood supply.
- Are there any pathological changes in the gland itself and neighboring organs.
All these collected data also help to identify such dangerous neoplasms as pseudocysts. Formed in the body, pseudocysts contribute to the displacement of closely located organs and the disruption of their functioning. Increasing in volume, the gland's head presses on the duodenum, displacing and deforming it. On the inner shell of the part of the descending portion of the intestine, areas are formed that are no longer capable of reacting and performing their functions. In order to determine whether there is a fusion of the stomach with the pancreas, it is recommended to carry out two chest radiographs. One of them is performed by the patient with its vertical position. Another x-ray is done by tilting the patient's body forward at an angle of 90 degrees.
The radionuclide method of diagnosing diseases, to date, is rarely used in medicine, since the dose of irradiation is very high for the patient. The most informative and error-free method for radiation diagnosis of pancreatitis is magnetic resonance imaging of the gland and adjacent organs and structures. MRI is often combined with angiography, which gives a complete and clear picture of the pancreas in the patient. The most common methods of radiation diagnosis of pancreatitis - ultrasound diagnosis( US), computed tomography( CT), angiography, endoscopic pancreatography. Due to the fact that radiodiagnosis involves many methods, doctors have the ability to monitor treatment, whether it is effective or not, and also not to miss the complications of pancreatitis.