Queensland X-Ray are currently the only providers of 4D pelvic floor ultrasound for women in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region. To find out more, we chatted with Sonographer, Allison Mander from our St Vincent’s Hospital Toowoomba practice.
Almost half of all women in Australia will experience pelvic floor dysfunction before the age of 60. That’s right – almost half! Of these, research suggests that one third of women report issues following childbirth, but there’s lots of different reasons why a woman may have difficulties with her pelvic floor.
Our experienced sonographers are super passionate and knowledgeable about how pelvic floor dysfunction impacts women’s quality of life. “Many women share their experiences with me and most of them have similar symptoms – things like incontinence and prolapse following the birth of their first child, or difficult deliveries,” said Allison.
Pelvic floor ultrasound is offered to women experiencing symptoms such as incontinence (like increased urgency, stress or frequency), pelvic organ prolapse, difficulty going to the toilet, pelvic pain or pain during intercourse, or recurrent urinary tract infections. “It’s exciting to be able to offer this service to women in our regional area who would have otherwise had to travel to Brisbane,” said Allison. “On top of this, this type of ultrasound enables us to assess our patient’s pelvic floor via excellent image resolution,” said Allison.
Pelvic floor ultrasound is non-invasive and doesn’t have any radiation. Patients are asked to come to their appointment holding a full-bladder, which they then empty just before the scan. “This allows us to assess the residual volume in the bladder and it is then more comfortable for the patient to perform contracting and straining manoeuvres,” said Allison.
Our dedicated team of sonographers are proud to offer this service, which takes roughly 30-minutes. Patients also enjoy the privacy of our dedicated obstetric and gynaecology ultrasound room at St.Vincent’s Private Hospital. “We welcome mothers with children and have an activity table in the room for our patient’s little companions,” said Allison. “We have made every effort to make women’s experiences calm, efficient and positive.”
Pelvic floor ultrasounds were introduced to our St.Vincent’s Private Hospital practice after Allison and the broader St Vincent’s Hospital practice team recognised the potential this technology has for the local community. As a result we are thrilled we were able to add an amazing new machine to our fleet – the GE Voluson E10 machine.
The advantage of using this type of technology is that we can perform a dynamic assessment of the pelvic floor in real-time (4D). This provides valuable information for GPs and specialists, particularly when clinical examination or other types of imaging isn’t suitable.
We offer this service at select practices throughout Queensland, such as our Women’s Imaging practices. If you have issues with your pelvic floor, we invite you to talk to your GP or physiotherapist about obtaining a referral for a pelvic floor ultrasound with Queensland X-Ray.
