All men aged 65yrs or more will be invited to attend for an abdominal ultrasound examination. This quick and completely painless technique will scan your abdomen for an enlarged blood vessel, called an aneurysm. The reason it is important to get a scan is that an aneurysm can cause the wall of the blood vessel to split or tear and cause uncontrolled bleeding. If you don’t have one you won’t need any further investigations or treatment. If however an aneurysm is found the size of it will dictate what happens next-in most cases if it is small you will simply have a yearly repeat ultrasound. If it is a medium sized aneurysm you will have scans more frequently, either every 3-6 months. If it is a large aneurysm you will be referred to a Vascular surgeon. Further details can be found at NHS inform.
