Morphological Changes of Medial Epicondyle‐Olecranon Ligament and Ulnar Nerve in the Cubital Tunnel Syndrome: An Ultrasonic Study

Abstract

Objective: Few studies have performed detailed ultrasound measurements of medial epicondyle-olecranon (MEO) ligament that cause the entrapment of ulnar nerve. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate dynamic ultrasonographic characteristics of MEO ligament and ulnar nerve for clinical diagnosis and accurate treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome (CuTS).Methods: Thirty CuTS patients (CuTS group) and sixteen healthy volunteers (control group) who underwent ultrasound scanning from October 2016 to October 2020 were retrospectively collected, with 30 elbows in each group. Primary outcomes were thickness at six points, length and width of MEO ligament. Secondary outcomes were thickness of ulnar nerve under MEO ligament at seven parts and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of ulnar nerve at proximal end of MEO ligament (P 0 mm ). The thickness of MEO ligament and ulnar nerve in different points of each group was compared by one-way ANOVA analysis with Bonferroni post hoc test, other outcomes were compared between two elbow positions or two groups using independent-samples t test.Results: Thickness of MEO ligament in CuTS group at epicondyle end, midpoint in transverse view, olecranon end, proximal end, midpoint in axial view, and distal end was 0.