How much do you know about the "primordial power" of musculoskeletal ultrasound?

How much do you know about the "primordial power" of musculoskeletal ultrasound?

When my neighbor, Grandma Wang, was taking a shower, she accidentally fell because the floor was slippery. Soon after, her knees became swollen and painful. She went to the hospital for an X-ray, and the bones were fine, but her knees still hurt and were not flexible when she walked. Her family was quite nervous and hoped to do more tests to find out where the injury was, how serious the problem was, and whether it could be cured. In this case, what other tests can be done at the hospital? The traditional method of examination is to do further CT or MRI, but these tests are expensive and have certain conditions. So, is there a relatively simple test? Of course there is. Now I will introduce a new test to you - musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Musculoskeletal ultrasound is an ultrasound examination technology applied to the musculoskeletal system. It uses a high-frequency ultrasound probe to clearly display soft tissue structures such as muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, bursae, nerves, etc., thereby assisting doctors in diagnosing related diseases.

In what situations is musculoskeletal ultrasound suitable?

1. Injuries or diseases caused by trauma or sports, such as muscle and tendon tears, tendonitis and various complications caused by muscle injuries.

Left: A few days after a knee injury. Right: Musculoskeletal ultrasound showing prepatellar bursitis

2. Tendinopathy caused by chronic injuries, such as frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, and mom's hand.

3. Immune rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout and other lesions involving joints.

4. Peripheral neuropathy, various traumatic diseases and nerve compression, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, nerve compression in the surgical area caused by scars, etc.

5. Visualized interventional treatment, such as aspiration of effusion, drug treatment of the joint cavity, tendon/tendon sheath, peri-articular area or muscle, soft tissue biopsy, etc., as well as post-treatment efficacy evaluation.

Advantages of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

1. The examination is inexpensive, has no clear contraindications, and is suitable for people of all ages.

2. It is highly safe, non-invasive, radiation-free, not restricted by built-in metal objects, and will not cause claustrophobia.

3. It can provide real-time dynamic imaging of the patient's affected side and healthy side, which is convenient for doctors to compare and observe.

4. For patients with multiple joint lesions, ultrasound can scan multiple joints at a time.

Limitations of musculoskeletal ultrasound

1. Ultrasound cannot penetrate bones and cannot examine parts blocked by bones.

2. The penetration power of high-frequency ultrasound probes is limited. If the lesion is located deeper, the image resolution will be low, affecting the accuracy of diagnosis.

3. Ultrasound is a local tomographic scan, which is not as comprehensive and intuitive as CT and MRI. At the same time, ultrasound examination depends on the operator and is closely related to the operator's operating techniques and clinical experience.