Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Of Joints- Sonograms

Recent advances in high-resolution ultrasound imaging present unique opportunities for improving the diagnosis and treatments available for joint pain.

Diagnostic ultrasound Imaging:

Unlike an x-ray, which emits radiation and shows only bone, diagnostic ultrasound is non-invasive and allows us to view the causes of your joint pain with great accuracy. With musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging (MSUS), the muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, nerves and joints can be accurately examined at the time of your visit. This provides immediate information about the health of your joint and what factors are contributing to your pain. With this information at hand, specific treatment options can be established immediately!

Ultrasound can be an effective tool for diagnosing problems in patients with difficult-to-evaluate conditions. For example, to determine whether a tendon tear is the source of a patient’s ankle pain, we can use ultrasound to precisely inject anesthetic into the tendon sheath and assess the patient’s response. This diagnostic injection can help differentiate incidental from symptomatic structural abnormalities.

Ultrasound can also help diagnose the source of painful movement-related snaps and pops. Unlike MRI, ultrasound enables us to evaluate painful joints during movement. In this way, we can gain valuable information about specific movements that are causing pain and what structures in and around the joint are responsible for it. We can identify unstable tendons, snapping calcifications within tendons, and other sources of motion-induced pain. Better information means more focused treatments, and of course, better results!

Common applications of diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound include:

  • Identification of tendon or ligament tears, cartilage injury, inflamed bursa, compressed nerves, cysts, and joint fluid.
  • Evaluation of painful pops and snaps.
  • Diagnostic injections into joints and tendon sheaths or around nerves.
  • Rotator Cuff Conditions
  • Shoulder Pain
  • Tennis and Golfers Elbow
  • Wrist Pain and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Hip Pain
  • Knee Pain
  • Ankle and Foot Pain

 

 

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