It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and what a fitting time to talk about the gallbladder. With the rich meals associated with the holidays, it’s no surprise that the emergency department fills with patients who have biliary tract disorders such as gallstones and cholecystitis.

Here are some tips on how to find the gallbladder on ultrasound. Begin with the patient supine, placing probe sagittally and to the right of mid-line. The image should show liver and the gallbladder. Often a held inspiration can help move obscuring bowel gas. Now often patients do not have a nice supine window, so next view to try is intercostal. Place the probe at right lateral position, scanning between the ribs. Next look at the gallbladder when the patient is in a left lateral decubitus position. Often this is the best view to look at the GB because the liver creates an acoustic window and the bowel moves to the left. Again, place probe subcostally, right of mid-line, and sweep with your probe in the sagittal position.

Below is an ultrasound image of a normal gallbladder. Stay tuned for further posts about gallbladder pathology!

Case courtesy of Dr Henry Knipe, <a href=”https://radiopaedia.org/”>Radiopaedia.org</a>. From the case <a href=”https://radiopaedia.org/cases/48019″>rID: 48019</a>