Ultrasonic Examination of the Flexor Tendons of the Fingers

Abstract

Static ultrasound was used to examine the cross-sectional anatomy of the fingers principally to determine the feasibility of demonstrating the normal anatomy of the flexor tendons and also to investigate the possibility of showing pathological anatomy. The study showed that normal and pathologic anatomy of the flexor tendons could be easily demonstrated using the available ultrasound equipment. The exact clinical usefulness and the role of this new procedure awaits further clinical studies with surgical and pathological correlation.

Pulley System in the Fingers: Normal Anatomy and Simulated Lesions in Cadavers at MR Imaging, CT, and US with and without Contrast Material Distention of the Tendon Sheath

“…Although several investigators (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22) have studied ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the evaluation of flexor tendon abnormalities, diagnosis of lesions of the pulley system has been made only indirectly with the detection of a gap between the flexor tendon and the bone on sagittal CT scans and MR images, a finding referred to as the bowstring sign. This sign usually reflects an extensive abnormality of the pulley system that leaves limited or partial lesions of the system virtually undetected by means of indirect methods of visualization.…”

Sonographic evaluation of the thenar compartment musculature.

“…Over the past few years, numerous studies on acute and chronic affections of the hand have been published, dealing in particular with the carpal tunnel syndrome, infections, tumors, and posttraumatic entities. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] However, we found no paper focused specifically on the sonoanatomy of the thenar region, including a description of the scan planes necessary for individual muscle assessment. Detailed knowl- However, the only aim of this study was to show the ability of ultrasonographic evaluation of all the components of the thenar compartment and to map out the origins and insertions of the specific muscles.…”

“…Consequently, ultrasonography has been gaining a role of growing importance in the evaluation of soft tissues of the limbs. While a number of studies deal with anatomy and various pathologic conditions in the human hand, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] none has concentrated on normal sonomorphology of the thenar muscles and on a standardized examination technique, including defined scan planes that guarantee complete sonomorphologic assessment of the thenar soft tissue.…”

Die Sonographie in der Diagnostik von Handtraumen und Handpathologien

“…5 Besondere Beachtung muß aber der Möglichkeit der Entstehung von Artefakten (Abb. 5) und ihrer entsprechenden Interpretation geschenkt werden (5,14,12…”

“…Im Normalfall stellt sich die Sehne im Längsschnitt als echoreiche, kontinuierliche Struktur mit parallel verlaufenden Echobändern dar. Im Querschnitt zeigt sie ein punktförmiges, retikuläres Bild (3,5,12). Hierbei muß aber beachtet werden, daß der Schallkopf parallel zur Sehne ausgerichtet wird und der Schallimpuls orthograd auf die Sehne trifft (5,14).…”