Nov 15, 2017

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound: A Cost-Effective Approach to Diagnosing Sports Injuries

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound is a great way to assess sports-related injuries and is significantly more cost-effective than an MRI.

When it comes to sports injuries, imaging can play an important role in determining exactly what is causing pain to occur. Most sports injuries occur when there is damage to a muscle, ligament, or tendon. Musculoskeletal Ultrasound is a great way to assess many of these injuries as it is significantly more cost-effective than an MRI.

What is Musculoskeletal Ultrasound?

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound is a safe and painless imaging technique used to assess many sports injuries. It produces a high-quality image while being a fraction of the price of an MRI.

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound also has the benefit of being able to create a dynamic image. Meaning that you can move the athlete into the position that produces pain and see exactly what is going on. An MRI can only take a picture when the individual is lying still and is unable to assess how movement affects the joint.

What can Musculoskeletal Ultrasound detect?

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound can assess joint pain.

It can evaluate tendon tears, tendonitis, muscle tears, ligament sprains, ligament tears, joint inflammation, nerve entrapments, and arthritis.

What are the limitations of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound?

When pain is coming from inside the joint, such as in a labral tear, Musculoskeletal Ultrasound is unable to obtain a proper image.

Fortunately, most sports injuries are superficial and therefore able to be successfully evaluated using Musculoskeletal Ultrasound.

Below is a list of common conditions evaluated with Musculoskeletal Ultrasound:

Shoulder
Arthritis
Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy/Tears
Calcific Tendinopathy
Adhesive Capsulitis
Bursitis
Cysts

Elbow
Lateral and Medial Epicondylitis
Arthritis
Nerve Entrapment
UCL Tears
RCL Tears
Ulnar Nerve Subluxation or Dislocation

Wrist/Hand
Tendinopathy
Tenosynovitis
Arthritis
Trigger Finger
Ganglion Cyst
Nerve Entrapment
Scapholunate/Lunotriquetral Ligament Tears
TFCC Tears

Hip
Trochanter bursitis/Tendinopathy
Iliopsoas tendinopathy/bursitis
Arthritis
Sport’s Hernia
Cam/FAI impingement
Superior/Anterior Labrum Integrity

Knee
Peripheral meniscus tears
Arthritis
Bursitis
Baker’s Cyst
Quadriceps/Patellar tendinopathy
Quadriceps/Patellar tendon tears

Ankle/Foot
Tendinopathy
Plantar Fasciitis
Achilles tendinopathy
Achilles tear
Ganglion cysts
Peroneal tendon subluxations
Peroneal tendon tearing
Ligament sprains and tears
Posterior tibial tendon tears

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