Musculoskeletal ultrasound: an alternative imaging modality for sports-related injuries

Abstract

Advanced technology and increasing clinical experience have established sonography as a reliable imaging modality for sports-related injuries. Tears of muscles and tendons, tendinosis, and tenosynovitis are promptly diagnosed using ultrasound. Dynamic assessment of joints can be performed, allowing diagnoses of conditions that may remain undetected when evaluated with conventional magnetic resonance imaging. Sonography provides expeditious image guidance for procedures such as drainage of fluid collections and cysts. This article reviews the applications of sonography to sports-related injuries in which its diagnostic performance may be comparable to magnetic resonance imaging.