Sonographic rectal enema (“hydrocolon”) for diagnosing large bowel pathologies in infancy – pictorial review to demonstrate feasibility and value

Abstract

Bowel pathologies encompass a large diversity of diseases with commonly confusing and overlapping clinical presentations. Sonography has a leading role in diagnosing these disorders, especially in small children. However, in some cases, baseline sonography does not deliver a satisfactory result on the suspected pathology. To increase the sensitivity and specificity of the standard bowel ultrasound technique, complimentary ultrasound enema may be performed, which is also referred to as “hydrocolon” in the literature. This paper summarizes the technique of sonographic enema, as well as some bowel pathologies from our case series where sonographic enema proved to be helpful in the diagnostic work-up.

Keywords

• diagnostic imaging
• ultrasonography
• infant
• newborn
• intestines