Ultrasound Guided Injection and Ultrasonography of the Musculoskeletal System
There is an increasing demand for Ultrasonography (USG) for the last 40 years. Physicians in various departments have started leveraging ultrasonography while only radiologists have preferred this technology at the beginning. Especially obstetricians, urologists and cardiologists make use of ultrasound technology very efficiently. The USG devices have also been developed in alignment with the advancements in imaging technologies for the last 10 years. With the development of linear probes of high frequency, it has been possible to perform detailed observations on superficial soft tissues. Ultrasonography enables to examine the muscles, nerves, tendon and ligaments very clearly and also helps diagnosis of musculoskeletal system disorders. And today, Ultrasonography of the musculoskeletal system is used in the diagnosis of a wide range of disorders from nerve compressions to muscle disorders, ligament injuries to tendon disorders.
What are the advantages of ultrasound?
– It does not include radiation
– Quick evaluation
– Body parts can be dynamically monitored (i.e. the tendons of the wrist can be monitored while moving the wrist)
– It may provide an alternative for patients who are not eligible for MRI
– It allows ultrasound guided injections
Even though it is mainly used in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal and peripheral nervous system disorders, ultrasound is also recently used in injection guidance. Local injection applications are highly preferred in the treatment of musculoskeletal system disorders. Injection methods are especially used for drawing effusions from the joints,intra-articular injections and soft tissue injections of particular medications (cortisone, local anesthesics, Na hyaluronate, botox etc.). Injections can provide highly effective treatments when administered with the correct medication to the correct site in the correct patient. Administering injections into the correct site is highly important to achieve a successful treatment. According to the studies, if guidance is not provided for the injections into the joints such as shoulder, hip or even the knee, a significant portion of the injections is administered into the wrong site. This explains the reason for the unsuccessful injections. The clinical studies show that the ratio of successful treatment increases from 40-50% to 80-90% with ultrasound guided injections.
There is no doubt that ultrasound guided injection enables injecting the medication into the right site in the correct way without harming the other tissues (nerve, vascular). And this is the most important factor for the success of the therapy.
Watch the Ultrasound Guided Injection Video