How Long Does An Echocardiogram Take?

Your doctor referred you to have an echocardiogram done. You know that an echocardiogram is an ultrasound of your heart, but what you’re not sure about is how long an echocardiogram takes.

Well that’s exactly what I’m going to address in this short post.  If you want to know the procedure time of an echocardiogram, then read on.

First of all, there are a number of things that can determine how long an echocardiogram can take.  And we’ll discuss those in a moment. But first, you can expect your echocardiogram to last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.  Please note that this is merely an average however

What Affects Echocardiogram Procedure Time?

So lets take a look at some of the things that can determine how long this heart test will last.

One of the biggest factors in how long your heart echo will last is completely dependent on the facility that is doing the echo, and how lengthy their echo protocol is.

For example, if you were to have your echo done at a University center, you might expect the echocardiogram to take longer than it would if you were to have your echo done at your primary care doctors office.

The reason this is true is because often times, larger learning centers, such as university hospitals, will have a much lengthier protocol the the cardiac sonographers have to follow. Sometimes these lengthy protocols require a significant amount of time in order for the sonographer to acquire all the echo images.  It’s not uncommon for echocardiograms at these facilities to take 45 minutes to and hour to complete.

While at other facilities, such as the one where I perform echoacardiograms, the protocol that’s followed is not quite as lengthy.  At these facilities, echocardiograms can last anywhere between 25 to 45 minutes.

It is this 25 to 45 minute time frame that I would estimate that the length of the average echocardiogram falls in.

Conclusion

In general, you can expect your echocardiogram to take anywhere between 25 and 45 minutes to complete. But remember that these procedure times can vary depending on the facility that you’re having your echo done at.

If you have any questions about what to expect from your echocardiogram, you might want to check out my post, The 2D Echo Exam: What To Expect During Your Heart Ultrasound