Ultrasound serves as a prevalent imaging modality utilizing high-frequency sound waves to generate images of internal organs and structures within the body. These images offer valuable insights into underlying tissue pathologies, aiding in diagnosis and treatment planning. Ultrasound enables clear visualization of organs, tendons, muscles, and joints, facilitating the identification of associated disorders.
Ultrasound-guided injection represents a minimally invasive procedure utilized to address various musculoskeletal painful conditions like tendonitis, bursitis, neuritis, or for cyst aspiration. It also proves instrumental in guiding needle placement for both diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
Injecting a combination of pain medication and local anesthetic directly into the injury site aids in pain relief. The advanced imaging capabilities of ultrasound offer high-resolution images, enabling physicians to precisely target injections deep into the affected tissue without causing harm to surrounding structures.
Advantages
Advantages of ultrasound imaging over other modalities include:
- Absence of patient exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Ability to assess tendons, ligaments, and muscles with high resolution
- Direct visualization of the treatment area, ensuring accurate needle placement.
Indications
- Diagnosing conditions such as tendon/ligament tears, inflamed bursae, joint fluid, and cysts.
- Evaluating painful pops and snaps during movement.
- Administering diagnostic injections to specific targets like joints, tendon sheaths, or bursae.
- Guiding needle placement during aspirations or injections, particularly for patients with complex anatomical variations or those taking blood-thinning medications.
- Aspiration of a ganglion cyst.
- Guiding needles in percutaneous therapy for calcific tendonitis treatment.
Procedure
The procedure, employed for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, commonly involves administering anti-inflammatory medications like corticosteroids and hyaluronans to alleviate pain, inflammation, and swelling, or to stimulate synovial fluid production for enhanced lubrication.
Shoulder joint injection technique
Regarding shoulder joint injection techniques, the approach varies based on the condition being treated, such as osteoarthritis, frozen shoulder, or tendonitis. The injection may be administered anteriorly, posteriorly, superiorly, or inferiorly depending on the target area. During an ultrasound-guided injection, the patient is positioned lying or sitting on a table as per the injection site. A water-based conducting gel is applied to the skin to aid sound wave transmission. The physician maneuvers a handheld probe, known as a transducer, over the target area, emitting sound waves and detecting rebound echoes from the tissue. Images generated from these waves are displayed on a video screen attached to the scanner, offering a clear view of the target area and assisting in accurate injection site identification.