Ultrasound and Achilles Injury: Do Scan Findings Correlate?

Achilles Tendon Ultrasound & Pathology in Dancers

INTRO:

Achilles tendinopathy commonly affects active athletes who perform repetitive tendon loading activities, including dancers.

Ultrasound and Achilles Injury: Do Scan Findings Correlate? - themanualtherapist.com

Clinical diagnosis of Achilles tendinopathy is based on:

History.
Location of symptoms.
Behavior of pain.
Exclusion of other potential causes.

However, ultrasound imaging (USI) is often used to confirm the diagnosis.

De-la-Cruz-Torres et al. (2020), determined the prevalence of normal and abnormal AT pathology in asymptomatic dancers and associated factors, including:

Age.
Height.
Weight.
Body mass.
Average dancing hours/wk.
Dancing history (years).
Average pointe hours per week.
Thickness and CSA of FHL muscle.

Tendons were classified (normal, abnormal) using ultrasound imaging (USI).

Performance variable were measured, including:

Range of movement (ROM) of the first toe joint.
Balance test.
Endurance test.
Vertical jump.

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RESULTS:

A total of 58 tendons were measured.
26 abnormal tendons and 32 normal tendons were classified. .
(62%) had at least one abnormal tendon.
(45%) in the abnormal group had bilateral abnormalities. .
Dancers with AT pathology had significantly more years of dancing and number of weekly pointe hours than those with no pathology on US imaging. .
No significant differences between the groups were identified for the rest of the variables. .
Dancing years was moderately correlated with AT thickness

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CONCLUSIONS:

Asymptomatic classic dancers had a high incidence of tendon pathology via USI.
Increased dancing years was associated with pathology in the AT. .
Abnormal achilles tendons do NOT correlate with pain.

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SOURCE:
B. de-la-Cruz-Torres et al. 2020. Ultrasound imaging features of the Achilles tendon in dancers. Phys Ther Sport 43.

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