Ultrasonographic evaluation of pediatric abdominal masses

Background: Intra-abdominal mass lesions are commonly encountered in pediatric patients in day-to-day practice. Ultrasonography is the most commonly used non-invasive imaging modality in the evaluation of pediatric abdominal masses. With advancements and refinements in technology, the development of high-resolution scanners with variable frequency transducers, modern ultrasonography makes possible the detection of subtle changes and leading to improvements in diagnostic yields. Aims and Objectives: The study aims to investigate various pediatric abdominal masses using ultrasonography. In this study, pediatric abdominal masses were evaluated using ultrasonography for aperiod of 1 year. Characterizations of lesions and the anatomic site of origin were done using gray-scale ultrasonography, and the findings were correlated with operative findings, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), and histopathological examination (HPE) findings. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 25 pediatric patients with an abdominal lump or suspicious of such a process based on history and clinical examination, who were examined with real-time ultrasonography. Results were correlated with operative findings, FNAC, and HPE findings. Results: Results showed that renal masses were the most common etiology (36%), followed by gastrointestinal masses (24%), hepatobiliary masses (20%), non-renal retroperitoneal masses (12%), genital masses (4%), and parietal masses (4%). Conclusion: The study showed that ultrasonography can be used to localize and characterize abdominal masses in the pediatric age group with great accuracy.