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Abdominal X-ray (single view)

A single plain x-ray picture of the belly. It is the fastest and cheapest look inside the abdomen, read mostly for the pattern of gas and stool in the bowel, for dense objects like some stones or a swallowed item, and for checking where a tube or drain has ended up. One view means one image, not a series.

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What it is

One exposure, usually taken lying flat, covering the stomach, liver, intestines, spleen and the outline of the kidneys and bladder. A plain film of the abdomen does not show organs the way a CT does — soft tissue mostly blurs together. What it shows is contrast between air, fluid, soft tissue and bone, and a great deal can be read from that alone: where gas has collected and where it has not, how distended a loop of bowel is, whether something dense sits where it should not. It is the sort of test that is either quickly decisive or quickly followed by a CT. The single-view version is distinct from studies of two or three views, which cost more and are billed under different codes.

Why it is done

  • To investigate unexplained abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting as a first, fast look
  • To look for a bowel obstruction, by the pattern of distended loops and gas
  • To look for dense stones, or for an object that has been swallowed
  • To confirm the position of a feeding tube, drain or catheter after it has been placed

What to expect

There is essentially nothing to prepare. Jewellery, belts and anything metallic over the abdomen come off. The patient lies on the x-ray table, the technologist positions the machine above the belly, and asks for stillness and a held breath for a second or two while the exposure is made. The whole visit is normally under fifteen minutes. Staff should be told beforehand about pregnancy, an intrauterine device, or a recent barium study or bismuth-containing stomach medicine, since those affect the images or the decision to image at all. The image is read by a radiologist afterwards.

Questions worth asking

  • Is one view all that is ordered? Two- and three-view abdominal series are separate, higher-priced codes, and it is worth knowing which was actually performed before the bill arrives.
  • Was a chest x-ray taken at the same time? That is billed as its own study.
  • If this film is inconclusive and a CT follows, will I be charged for both? Ask whether going straight to the CT is the plan.
  • In an emergency department, this x-ray sits on top of the visit level charge and the radiologist's reading — is each of those quoted?

What Abdominal X-ray (single view) costs by state

Abdominal X-ray (single view) prices at hospitals

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Sources

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