Diagnostic Ultrasound Scan

Ultrasound scan provides accurate diagnosis of soft tissue injuries around the joints; therefore, it is an essential addition to traditional physiotherapy assessment and treatment. Ultrasound musculoskeletal imaging has an increasingly important place in diagnosing, investigating and managing a wide range of musculoskeletal disorders. Ultrasound scans can help diagnose soft tissue injuries like rotator cuff tears or bursitis in shoulder, tennis elbow, hamstring injuries, tendon, or joint related dysfunctions. We offer Ultrasound guided injections to help alleviate pain.

Your Care Pathway with us:

To book an appointment call reception at 01189344055, email to Physio@physiocare.co.uk or click the button given below.
Complete MSK examination and detailed MSK ultrasound scan.
Discussion of your treatment plan; Treatment plan may include advanced treatments such as cortisone/steroid injections, Ostenil Plus (Hyaluronic Acid), or conservative management like physiotherapy, shockwave therapy, massage, acupuncture.

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Ultrasound images are typically used to help diagnose:

tendon tears, or tendinitis of the Rotator cuff in the shoulder, Achilles tendon in the ankle and other tendons throughout the body.
muscle tears, masses or fluid collections.
ligament sprains or tears.
inflammation or fluid (effusions) within the bursae and joints.
early changes of rheumatoid arthritis.
nerve entrapments such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
benign and malignant soft tissue tumours.
ganglion cysts.
foreign bodies in the soft tissues (such as splinters or glass).

Why book for Diagnostic Ultrasound scan?

Diagnostic Ultrasound has been widely used in clinics in recent years to ensure the correct diagnosis is made at your initial assessment.

Clinicians use diagnostic ultrasound because of many reasons. These include:

Improved technology and image quality (for many conditions it is equal to MRI in diagnostic accuracy)
Patient safety (non-invasive, no radiation, painless procedure)
Results immediately available which can be considered alongside your physical assessment
Dynamic scanning (scanning whilst patient performs movement) and comparison with the asymptomatic side
Sequential assessment of healing, e.g., muscle tear
Ultrasound guided procedures e.g., steroid or hyaluronic acid.
Cost effective. Ultrasound is less expensive than most alternative forms of imaging such as MRI & CT scans.

Ultrasound Guided Injections

Ultrasound-guided injection of the knee

What is an Ultrasound guided injection?

Ultrasound is a medical procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to penetrate the body’s tissues using a portable probe. The returned waves are then calculated to generate an image of the body’s anatomy. Ultrasound is frequently utilised in diagnostic procedures to help with proper assessment prior to injection. When administering an injection, ultrasonic waves bounce back from the needle as it travels through the body’s tissues, providing for clear sight of the needle tip and, as a result, accurate injection guidance to the target region. Corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid can all be injected using ultrasound guidance. Ultrasound guidance also enables a variety of highly specialised procedures such as joint aspiration (draining fluid from a swollen joint), image guided high volume injections (tendon stripping) and barbotage (aspiration of calcium deposits from within a joint) to be performed.

What is the benefit of an Ultrasound guided injection?

When compared to injections performed without Ultrasound guidance, a large body of research shows that Ultrasound guided injections provide superior pain relief, have longer lasting effects, and improve functionality (blind or surface marked injections). There is also evidence that it minimises the chance of needle trauma or misplacing the injectable substance, therefore enhancing injection safety while lowering the risks of adverse events associated with injection therapy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any further or more specific queries – our receptionists will be only to pleased to help!

What is Ultrasound imaging?
Ultrasound is safe and painless, and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or sonography, involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back and a computer then uses those sound waves to create an image.
Does ultrasound imaging involve radiation exposure?
Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays), thus there is no radiation exposure to the patient. Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body’s internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels.

What do ultrasound images show?
Ultrasound images of the musculoskeletal system provide pictures of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and soft tissue throughout the body.