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High-resolution ultrasonography in evaluating peripheral nerve entrapment and trauma

2009; American Association of Neurological Surgeons; Volume: 26; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3171/foc.2009.26.2.e13

1092-0684

Ralph W. Koenig, Maria Teresa Pedro, Christian Heinen, Thomas Schmidt, Hans‐Peter Richter, Gregor Antoniadis, Thomas Kretschmer,

Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation

High-resolution ultrasonography is a noninvasive, readily applicable imaging modality, capable of depicting real-time static and dynamic morphological information concerning the peripheral nerves and their surrounding tissues. Continuous progress in ultrasonographic technology results in highly improved spatial and contrast resolution. Therefore, nerve imaging is possible to a fascicular level, and most peripheral nerves can now be depicted along their entire anatomical course. An increasing number of publications have evaluated the role of high-resolution ultrasonography in peripheral nerve diseases, especially in peripheral nerve entrapment. Ultrasonography has been shown to be a precious complementary tool for assessing peripheral nerve lesions with respect to their exact location, course, continuity, and extent in traumatic nerve lesions, and for assessing nerve entrapment and tumors. In this article, the authors discuss the basic technical considerations for using ultrasonography in peripheral nerve assessment, and some of the clinical applications are illustrated.