Paracolic Gutter Ct Scan

Colon is located at the posterior pole of the right paracolic gutter or the vertical line through the posterior pole of the.

Paracolic gutter ct scan.

Magnetic resonance mr imaging is increasingly used to depict peritoneal disease. Ct is the most common imaging modality used to detect diseases of the peritoneum. Both paracolic gutters run laterally along the back side of the abdominal wall and are situated between the abdominal wall and the outer margin of the colon. Ascites is the collection of free fluid in the peritoneal cavity normally the peritoneal cavity contain small amount of serous fluid for lubrication less than 100 ml free fluid exceeding this amount considered ascites ascites may result from variety of medical surgical causes clinically detectable ascites when its amount exceeding 1500 ml and.

The main paracolic gutter lies lateral to the colon on each side. Back ground and purposes. The right lateral gutter is much larger and allows for greater drainage than the left gutter. It can be compared to fluid in the gallbladder or stomach.

Fluid on ct is relatively hypodense dark on ct. Paracolic gutters help keep infectious material away from the body s internal organs. The significant flaw in their assessment is therefore that the. To fully delineate peritoneal anatomy and the extent of disease we prefer to perform isotropic imaging with coronal and sagittal reformations.

Fluid may sit within the peritoneal space or paracolic gutters or may be interposed between bowel loops or around solid organs e g. The inframesocolic space is the peritoneal space below the root of the transverse mesocolon the supramesocolic space lies above the transverse mesocolon s root. The right and left paracolic gutters are peritoneal recesses on the posterior abdominal wall lying alongside the ascending and descending colon. Computed tomography ct scan or ultrasonography was based on criteria determined by the investigators themselves.

It is important to look for tumour implants as described above in the paracolic gutters the pouch of douglas the sigmoid mesocolon and the ileocecal junction but also in the anterior parietal peritoneum involvement of the visceral peritoneum is clearly visible peri hepatically at the round ligament and in the subphrenic space where it can mimic hepatic metastases causing. Dilated and stretched mesenteric vessels arrow are seen within the cluster. Its origin lies on the right side origin of the right paracolic gutter lies at the ascending portion of the colon at the right hepatic flexure or the point where the ascending colon turns at a right angle to form the transverse colon. It can be divided into two unequal spaces posteriorly by the mesentery of the small bowel as it runs from the duodenojejunal flexure in the left upper quadrant to the ileocecal valve in the right lower quadrant.

A less obvious medial paracolic gutter may be formed especially on the right side if the colon. A contrast enhanced ct scan of the midabdomen shows a cluster of encapsulated small bowel loops arrowheads in the lateral aspect of the right paracolic gutter and behind the ascending colon a.