Ultrasound examination of soft tissue injury of the lower limb in athletes

Abstract

We performed ultrasonography on 32 athletes com plaining of intense pain in a swollen and tender thigh or calf after a contusion or stretching trauma. The ultra sonogram was used to visualize the presence and size of a suspected hematoma. The findings included the following: 7 patients with a circumscribed, anechoic lesion compatible with a liquefied hematoma; 10 pa tients with a circumscribed lesion of mixed echogenicity compatible with areas of liquefied hematoma, coagu lated blood, and edema; and 15 patients with a diffuse change in echogenicity of the whole muscle. The cir cumscribed liquefied, and mixed hematoma were more common after contusion trauma, while the diffuse type was more common after injury caused by stretching. Ultrasonography is useful in localizing the hematoma and in characterizing the different types. Differentiation is important in diagnosis and choice of treatment.