Breast Ultrasound in Rural Surgical Practice

Abstract

In diagnostic breast ultrasound the goal is to obtain high-quality images of the breast and to correlate them with clinical exam and other images available to form a clinical diagnosis and determine whether intervention is indicated. In interventional breast ultrasound the goal is to allow accurate, safe placement of needle for aspiration, biopsy, wire or balloon placement. During clinical breast exam, ink marking the skin helps target the areas for ultrasound scanning and helps you correlate your clinical breast exam findings with the ultrasound images. Use firm pressure, scan slowly and be alert for findings that may be artifacts. Carefully obtain and save images transverse and longitudinal or radial and antiradial. If necessary, additional modalities such as harmonics or color Doppler may be applied to aid in evaluation.

With appreciation and gratitude to the excellent ultrasound team at the Yankton Medical Clinic: Dr. Will Eidsness, Pam Cokeley, Todd Lange, Deb Lehl, Janet Schrempp, Sarah Smith, and Judy VanHeek.