Ultrasound measures of tendon thickness: Intra-rater, Inter-rater and Inter-machine reliability

Me, Del Baño-Aledo; Jj, Martínez-Payá; Ríos-Díaz, José; Mejías-Suárez, S; Serrano-Carmona, S; A, de Groot-Ferrando

doi:10.11138/mltj/2017.7.1.192

Cited by 40 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Ultrasound is the commonest examination for tendons and it considers primary three tendon features: (i) Thickness—tendinopathy can cause an increase in tendon thickness, due to a change in the number and type of cells of the tendon tissue, and this event provokes a bound water increase, and consequently an augmented tendon dimension [ 13 ]. Tendon thickness is indeed moderately correlated with pain, for some authors [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], so it is considered as an indirect measure of treatment outcome [ 8 , 27 ]. Specifically, Romero C et al [ 28 ] found that an increase in Achilles tendon thickness and its cross-sectional area at 4 and 6 cm from the calcaneus, comparing subjects with and without Achilles tendinopathy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower Limb Tendinopathy Tissue Changes Assessed through Ultrasound: A Narrative Review

et al. 2020

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Tendinopathy is a common disease that affects athletes, causing pain and dysfunction to the afflicted tendon. A clinical diagnose is usually combined with imaging and, among all the existing techniques, ultrasound is widely adopted. The aim of this review is to sum up the existing evidence on ultrasound as an imaging tool and guide for treatments in lower limbs tendinopathy. Using three different databases—PubMed, MEDLINE and CENTRAL—a literature search has been performed in May 2020 combining MeSH terms and free terms with Boolean operators. Authors independently selected studies, conducted quality assessment, and extracted results. Ultrasound imaging has a good reliability in the differentiation between healthy and abnormal tendon tissue, while there are difficulties in the identification of tendinopathy stages. The main parameters considered by ultrasound imaging are tendon thickness, hypoechogenicity of tendon structure and neovascularization of the tendon bound tissue. Ultrasound-guide is also used in many tendinopathy treatments and the available studies gave encouraging results, even if further studies are needed in this field.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower Limb Tendinopathy Tissue Changes Assessed through Ultrasound: A Narrative Review

et al. 2020

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“…It has become the preferable modality for clinicians' screening and a valuable tool for researchers to compare and describe injured structures (14,15). US imaging has been found to be reliable and valid for evaluating Achilles tendon length, thickness, cross-sectional area, and the calcification length in patient with insertional Achilles tendinopathy (16)(17)(18)(19). However, validated and repeatable methods for evaluating the reliability of US imaging to quantify the insertional Achilles tendon size have yet to be established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Dimensions of Achilles Tendon Insertional Area Using Ultrasound Imaging A Validity and Reliability Study

Alghamdi

Killian

Aitha

et al. 2019

Muscle Ligaments and Tendons J

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Background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of using US imaging for measuring Achilles tendon insertion area to the calcaneus. Methods. Sixteen cadaveric tendons were used to compare the agreement between Achilles tendon insertion length measurements from US images with actual measurements after dissection. In addition, test-retest reliability was performed on six healthy subjects for tendon insertion length (IL), before calcaneal bone cross-sectional area (CSA) and tendon insertion angle (IA). The reliability and validity of the measurements was analyzed with intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM). Results. There were significant differences and poor to good agreement between US measurements and Anthropometric measurements. Using cadaveric tendons images, the measurements agreement between the observers were good to excellent for IL, bone-to-insertion length and width before calcaneal bone (ICC 2,4 =.784, .935, .952). Test-retest reliability was excellent for US measurements for tendon IL (ICC 2,4 =.977,SEM=0.53mm), bone to IL (ICC 2,4 =.96, SEM=0.44mm), width before calcaneal bone (ICC 2,4 =.946, SEM=0.51mm), CSA (ICC 2,4 =.918, SEM=5.93mm 2), and IA (ICC 2,4 =.933, SEM=1.9°) on healthy tendons. Conclusions. US imaging was found to be reliable and valid to determine IL, width, and CSA of the Achilles tendon. The use of US imaging to determine Achilles tendon insertional size may be beneficial for evaluating the structural changes on disease development and progression.

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“…Second, ultrasound examination was performed with only one machine to reduce the potential for measurement error; therefore, intermachine reliability could not be analyzed. Due to the large number of machines that are currently in use, intermachine reliability can be difficult to determine; however, intermachine reliability has been confirmed in sonographic measurements of tendon thickness, although it remains unclear for Morton neuromas. Further studies are needed to address the limitations of this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra‐ and Interobserver Reliability of Size Measurement of Morton Neuromas on Sonography

Park

Choi

et al. 2019

J of Ultrasound Medicine

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Objectives-Sonography is often used for analysis of Morton neuromas, but the measurement reliability is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the intra-and interobserver reliability and precision of sonographic measurement of Morton neuromas.Methods-Three observers with different levels of sonography experience (observer A, expert; observer B, intermediate; observer C, beginner) performed repeated measurements of the size of Morton's neuroma in 20 patients. Intraclass correlation coefficient and limit of agreement were used to evaluate reliability and measurement precision.Results-The intraclass correlation coefficient for intraobserver reliability was 0.80, 0.71, and 0.43 (limit of agreement, 20%, 18%, and 47%) in observers A, B, and C, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient for interobserver reliability was 0.72, 0.38, and 0.38 (limit of agreement, 25%, 36%, and 35%) between observers A/B, A/C, and B/C, respectively. Conclusions-The intra-and interobserver reliability values for sonographic measurement of Morton neuroma size were dependent on observer experience. Experienced observers had higher reliability, while observers who were less familiar with sonography showed moderate to low reliability.

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Ultrasound measures of tendon thickness: Intra-rater, Inter-rater and Inter-machine reliability

Cited by 40 publications

References 23 publications

Lower Limb Tendinopathy Tissue Changes Assessed through Ultrasound: A Narrative Review

Lower Limb Tendinopathy Tissue Changes Assessed through Ultrasound: A Narrative Review

Quantifying the Dimensions of Achilles Tendon Insertional Area Using Ultrasound Imaging A Validity and Reliability Study

Intra‐ and Interobserver Reliability of Size Measurement of Morton Neuromas on Sonography

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