Diagnosis for Arthritis with the use of Ultrasound

Musculoskeletal ultrasound is rapidly emerging as valuable diagnostic tool for Rheumatologists. It improves clinical diagnosis as well as interventional skills and aids in the screening and diagnosis of arthritis.

Procedure:

Ultrasound scanning is noninvasive (no needles or injections) and totally painless. The procedure takes less than 20 minutes. Warm gel is placed on the area of the body to be examined. The ultrasound probe is moved around to obtain specific images of the joints, muscle, tendon or soft tissue to be examined such as tears of the rotator cuff or the Achilles tendon in the ankle, joint damage or erosions seen in rheumatoid and inflammatory arthritis, fluid collections within joints like Osteoarthritis knees, tendonopathy, muscle pains and bursitis can also be examined and diagnosed.

• Early detection of erosive disease
• Assessment of synovial tissue
• Assessment of effusions
• Detection of enthesitis in seronegative spondyloarthritis
• Assessment of treatment response
• Assessment of crystal arthropathy
• Needle guidance in aspiration, injection and biopsy

A wide spectrum of pathologic conditions of the musculoskeletal system can be demonstrated:

• Muscles, Tendons, Ligaments
• Superficial Joints
• Shoulder Pain
• Shoulder Tendon Tears (Rotator Cuff)
• Soft tissue Swellings and Bumps
• Foreign Bodies
• Bursitis
• Impingement