Venous ultrasound

Venous ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of the veins in the body. It is commonly used to search for blood clots, especially in the veins of the leg – a condition often referred to as deep vein thrombosis. Ultrasound does not use ionizing radiation and has no known harmful effects.

A Venous ultrasound study is also performed to:

• Determine the cause of long-standing leg swelling. In people with a common condition called "varicose veins", the valves that normally keep blood flowing back to the heart may be damaged, and venous ultrasound can help identify the damaged valves and abnormal blood flow.
• Map out the veins in the leg or arm so that pieces of vein may be removed and used to bypass a narrowed or blocked blood vessel. An example is using portions of vein from the leg to surgically bypass narrowed heart (coronary) arteries.
• Examine a blood vessel graft used for dialysis if it is not working as expected; for example, the graft may be narrowed or blocked.