Learn All About FibroScan® and How It Evaluates Liver Health

At Colorado Gastroenterology, our team is proud to provide our patients with the best care using state-of-the-art medical devices. This technology helps our staff deliver advanced services, faster appointments, and optimal results in contrast to more conventional options.

By providing FibroScan (liver elastography) to patients in Denver, CO, our specialists can measure their liver wellness as well as identify and track a few different liver conditions. To hear additional information regarding the ways FibroScan can allow you to manage your liver function, contact your nearby Colorado Gastroenterology to book a consultation today.

What should I know about FibroScan?

As a special liver assessment, FibroScan involves ultrasound imaging to get a full image of your liver health, check the phases of liver conditions, and help uncover liver problems. During this brief exam, your GI doctor will ask you to lie flat and place your right hand beneath your head. Your provider will run a transducer, much like the ones used in ultrasound exams, on the liver. When we carry out this procedure, we can:

• Assess the health of the liver to indicate scarring in the liver
• Observe liver function after a liver transplant
• Supervise the progression of liver problems
• Identify fibrosis of the liver
• Diagnose conditions of the liver

In the majority of cases, FibroScan might be used instead of undergoing a more invasive liver biopsy. Many people opt for this method because there is no requirement to take additional time away from daily routines or seek out a person to take them home after the exam, plus it is virtually painless. While this exam may not always dismiss the requirement for a biopsy exam, it permits your physician to get immediate outcomes with better precision.

How is FibroScan performed?

When you have your FibroScan exam at Colorado Gastroenterology, the special device will send acoustic pulses through the liver. The probe will inspect about three cubic centimeters of the liver – about 100 times the size of a liver biopsy. Whenever the acoustic pulses are released, it will take them longer to progress through a healthy liver. However, the acoustic waves will absorb through a damaged liver relatively quickly, and potentially more quickly the more damage there is to the liver.

The FibroScan test can additionally point to the level of fat tissue in the liver by examining the ultrasound attenuation rate. As soon as the sound frequencies are delivered, they will be received into damaged livers more quickly than healthy livers. The diseased liver will have a higher attenuation rate, whereas the healthy liver will show a smaller rate of attenuation.

All of this information will be reported using our computer technology and lets your GI doctor discuss your outcomes with you in real time.

Who would have a FibroScan test?

If you experience symptoms or signs of liver conditions, including abdominal pain, dark urine, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or a different issue, your Denver, CO gastroenterology provider could suggest a FibroScan observe your liver wellness.

According to your symptoms, health record, and other considerations, our team might utilize FibroScan to assess or help the diagnosis of:

• NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease)
• Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
• Alcohol-related liver disease
• Iron overload
• Hepatitis B or C

Get a FibroScan in Denver, CO

If you find that you or a loved one has symptoms and signs of a liver issue, have previously had liver disease, or you're aware of a family health history of liver issues, your GI doctor may propose a FibroScan assessment. This brief and effective exam is able to work to check for liver disease and assess the overall well-being of your liver, providing a more accurate way to treat and diagnose liver conditions.

To find out more about FibroScan and how it can allow you to sustain your liver and comprehensive vitality, connect with Colorado Gastroenterology today to schedule a consultation.