At Complete Injections, diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSKUS) imaging is performed by fully trained clinical specialist physiotherapists to add additional diagnostic information to the clinical assessment in order to plan your injection.
This not only improves the accuracy of the diagnosis but also allows us to look for any factors that might rule out the use of injection treatment. Sometimes the selection of a specific injection type (e.g., steroid versus hyaluronic acid) may change based on the ultrasound scan findings.
Diagnostic ultrasound scanning can also provide very detailed assessment of certain tissues, such as tendons, which can help improve the overall management of your condition before and after the injection, and ultimately the quality of your rehabilitation.
Many patients book for our injection services without having a formal diagnosis. Our one-stop shop model of care allows us to assess and scan patients and proceed to injection within the same appointment.
However, if following assessment and scan it is decided that an injection is not appropriate, then the patient is charged only for the assessment.
What conditions can diagnostic ultrasound help identify?
In diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound, sound waves are used to produce images of muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, bones and nerves in the body.
At Complete Injections we use diagnostic ultrasound to assess many musculoskeletal structures:
Joint – swelling and inflammation, synovitis, cysts, osteoarthritis
Bursa – swollen, thickened, and inflamed bursas (bursitis)
Ligament – tears and ruptures
Tendon – tears and ruptures, tendinosis (degeneration), tenosynovitis (inflammation)
Muscle – tears and haematomas
Nerve – inflammation and entrapment
Bone – whilst X-ray is typically the first-choice imaging modality for bones, osteoarthritis can be seen on ultrasound, and sometimes certain bone fractures are also visible on ultrasound.
(Jackson et al., 2021; Chen et al., 2016; Nwawaka, 2016)
Diagnostic ultrasound scan along with clinical assessment can be used to accurately confirm the presence of common conditions such:
- Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow
- Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinopathies around the wrist and hand
- Calf, hamstring, and quadriceps muscle tears
- Ankle and knee ligament tears
- Baker’s cyst, patella tendinopathy, osteoarthritis at the knee
- Achilles and other tendinopathies around the ankle
- Gluteal tendinopathy and bursitis at the hip
Conditions we don’t scan at Complete Injections.
Please be aware that we do not assess:
- Non-traumatic lumps and bumps
- The abdominal region and hernias
- Any parts of the spine, neck or face
Why choose Complete Injections?
Diagnostic ultrasound has been used for many years at Complete Injections alongside thorough physiotherapy assessment to diagnose and guide the treatment of a range of musculoskeletal conditions in our patients. The clinical specialists that use diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound at Complete Injections have undertaken formal training and have gained postgraduate qualifications in musculoskeletal sonography (along with being highly experienced physiotherapists, fully trained injection therapists and independent prescribers of medication).
The Society and College of Radiographers and The British Medical Ultrasound Society (2020) professional guidelines state that musculoskeletal ultrasound appearances must always be taken in clinical context. The fact that our clinicians are also highly specialist physiotherapists ensures that the ultrasound scan findings are immediately interpreted in the context of a full clinical assessment, allowing more informed decision making regarding the correct management of your condition.
At Complete Injections we have considerable in-house expertise in diagnostic ultrasound and ultrasound guided injections, with lead clinicians involved in teaching musculoskeletal ultrasound and guided injections, both in the UK and internationally, to a wide range of healthcare practitioners. This ensures that high standards are maintained.
Why book for a diagnostic ultrasound scan at Complete Injections?
Many musculoskeletal injuries and conditions do not require imaging. A good clinical diagnosis can normally identify the problem and establish the correct treatment plan. However, in cases where it is difficult to differentiate between 2 or more potential diagnoses, a diagnostic ultrasound scan along with physical assessment by one of our clinical specialists can be helpful in expediting a diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment. Equally, if you have been following a treatment plan and your symptoms have not been improving, then a diagnostic ultrasound scan can be helpful in confirming a diagnosis, and/or excluding others.
The use of diagnostic ultrasound by specially trained physiotherapists is increasing because, quite simply, it makes good sense and is cost-effective. At Complete Injections, having an experienced musculoskeletal physiotherapist combining appropriate ultrasound imaging with a good clinical assessment could be considered a gold standard.
The constantly improving technology allows many conditions to be diagnosed at the same level of accuracy as MRI, with the added convenience of being able to test structures dynamically (while moving) and being able to immediately compare with the ‘normal’ side (allowing for individual anatomical variations).
Booking an assessment with diagnostic ultrasound scan
If you would like to book an ultrasound scan as part of your assessment, or if you would like to find out more about how we use diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound at Complete Injections, or have any questions regarding any of our injection treatments please call 020 7482 3875 or email injections@complete-physio.co.uk