Ultrasound: Powerful, Dynamic and Affordable
The cause of painful snapping on the medial, or inner side, of the elbow can be difficult to identify. Possible causes include snapping of the medial triceps and dislocation of the ulnar nerve. However, both are relatively rare, and even with a thorough physical exam, both can be difficult to diagnose. Ultrasound is a powerful tool that can help make a diagnosis.
Advantages of Ultrasound in Orthopedics
Ultrasound has been used in medicine for decades. Orthopedic Surgeons are now using ultrasound to help make diagnoses that might otherwise require an expensive MRI. In many cases, a diagnostic ultrasound can give you information that is difficult, if not impossible to get from other studies such as MRI. Advantages of using ultrasound are many:- Ultrasound can be done very quickly in the office. There is no need to schedule the study at a later date, as it can be done in the doctor's office.
- Ultrasound is typically much more affordable than MRI.
- The ultrasound probe can be used to help find the painful region on a patient with an acute injury.
- Claustrophobic patients can tolerate ultrasound much better than MRI.
- With ultrasound, the surgeon can view live, moving images of the patient's anatomy. This is difficult, if not impossible to do with MRI. Having this "dynamic" information can significantly facilitate planning surgery.
Case Example of Ultrasound Used to Diagnose a Dislocating Ulnar Nerve
A 28 year-old teacher developed painful snapping on the medial (or inner) side of his elbow after he used his arm forcibly to restrain an unruly student. In addition to the painful snapping, he developed numbness in his hand. The patient was referred to Dr. Jason Browdy for an evaluation and treatment. Dr. Browdy suspected that the patient may have developed recurrent dislocation of the ulnar nerve. However, snapping of the medial head of the triceps can cause very similar symptoms, and the two conditions sometimes occur together.
The patient was treated conservatively for an extended period of time. But, despite significant attempts at conservative treatment, the patient had persistent symptoms. In order to confirm a diagnosis, plan surgical intervention and counsel the patient, Dr. Browdy used dynamic ultrasound imaging to visualize the ulnar nerve dislocating out of its normal position.
Ultrasound offers the unique ability to watch "real time" video of anatomic structures. Ultrasound is the most cost-effective, non-invasive way to look directly at a patient's anatomy and watch it function.
CLICK HERE TO SEE EXAMPLE ULTRASOUND IMAGES USED TO DIAGNOSE THIS DISLOCATING ULNAR NERVE.
