Dynamic ultrasonography of rotator cuff muscles

Abstract

When dynamic ultrasonography is used to assess the contraction patterns of the supra- and infraspinatus muscles, good intra- and inter-observer reliability is attained. Because a better contraction type correlates significantly with better shoulder function, this new diagnostic criterion may improve decision-making in the treatment of shoulder diseases.

A systematic review of the psychometric properties of the Constant-Murley score

“…They observed reliability coefficients varying from r ¼ 0.94 to 0.96 in subjects with different shoulder pathologies, 29,35 with 13% to 19% of patients exhibiting an exact match in terms of Shoulder stabilization procedures 36 Correctly classified Satisfied patients as satisfied (96%) Unsatisfied patients as unsatisfied (76%) Rotator cuff repair 15 Differentiate whether life was much or slightly better rather than unchanged or worse after surgery Shoulder instability 14 Cannot differentiate between: Very successful treatment vs all other responses; Little or no change vs moderate or great change; Problem much better vs all other responses. Shoulder arthroplasty 7 Differentiate between patients referred for shoulder arthroplasty (more pain and reduced function) than those referred for other shoulder surgery (effect sizes ¼ 0.87) Shoulder pathology 4 Differentiate between different type of contraction patterns of supraspinatus as measured by ultrasonography (P ¼ .022) 8 Excellent reliability has been reported for the pain and strength subscales (Table III). For the pain subscale, an ICC of 0.80 for the postsurgical patients and 0.87 for the nonsurgical patients were observed for test-retest reliability.…”

Investigation of the static and dynamic musculotendinous architecture of supraspinatus

“…Currently, factors such as the severity of the rotator cuff tear and muscle atrophy are used to help determine the suitability for surgical repair (Goutallier et al, 2003). However, patients with an identical clinical diagnosis, full thickness tears of the SP, can have significant variability in muscle contraction patterns (Boehm et al, 2005). Preoperative and postoperative investigation of muscle architecture may provide greater insight into how the repair of the tendon has influenced the musculotendinous unit and thus its function.…”

“…However, these features were investigated only in the relaxed state with the shoulder positioned in neutral rotation and 08 abduction. Boehm et al (2005) used US to study the general alignment of the fiber bundles during muscle contraction. In this descriptive study, it was concluded that homogeneous alignment of the paralleloriented fibers during muscle contraction correlated with better shoulder function whereas the loss of parallel orientation correlated with poorer shoulder function.…”

Biomechanical Studies on Hand Function in Rehabilitation

“…However, several researchers have reported decreased muscle strength but not decreased CSA, so the force, expressed per unit of muscle CSA, has been reduced in older individuals (Young 1984;Macaluso, Nimmo et al 2002;Narici, Maganaris et al 2003). US has been applied to the rotator cuff muscles to analyse the dynamic contraction pattern of these muscles to confirm the neuromuscular intensity (Boehm, Kirschner et al 2005). used US to measure muscle architecture and function in human muscles.…”