specialty

Ultrasonography and Endoscopy:

Lockridge Animal Hospital is fortunate in having the talents of specialists available to us on a weekly basis. New England Veterinary Specialists is a group of board certified veterinary internists and cardiologists that travel to veterinary hospitals in New England to provide high quality ultrasonography and endoscopy. Dr. Paul Kaplan and Dr. Joshua Gidlewski are here at Lockridge Animal Hospital weekly to perform these procedures. This allows us direct involvement with the specialist at the time of the exam.

Many people are familiar with ultrasound and endoscopy because of its common usage in human medicine. These modalities can often offer a non-invasive way to provide the information necessary in making a diagnosis. This procedure requires no anesthesia.

Ultrasound uses sound waves produced by a transducer. The waves encounter different densities and shapes as it enters the body and part of the wave is reflected back to the probe and is detected as an "echo". This "echo" forms an image in the screen. Doppler ultrasonography is used to study blood flow. The different speeds are represented in color for ease of interpretation, for example, leaky heart valves. The leak shows up as a flash of unique color. Ultrasound is essential in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

Endoscopy uses a lighted, flexible instrument called an endoscope to examine the inside of the body. Once the animal is anesthetized, the endoscope is passed into the mouth or the anus depending on what part of the gastrointestinal system is to be examined. Upper endoscopy allows examination and biopsy of tissues such as the esophagus, stomach and upper intestines. A colonoscopy examines the lower bowel or colon. Animals are generally ready to go home within a few hours of the procedure.