Ultrasound is extremely important in the field of rheumatology because it is a great support during diagnosis, and especially when it comes to differential diagnostics

It is also useful when carrying out treatments, such as infiltrations, and in the follow-up of patients who have already developed a rheumatological disease, subject to training, and can also be used in the clinical setting directly by the referring specialist.

Ultrasound in differential diagnosis

This examination, as we have said, is crucial when it comes to differential diagnosis, for example when the patient complains of an arthropathy at the onset, or in the differential diagnosis between arthritis and arthrosis, i.e. between an inflammatory and a degenerative pathology.

By assessing the area affected by inflammation with the ultrasound scanner, the physician can tell early on, even before the disease is clinically active, whether there are already ultrasound signs of inflammation or recurrence.

Ultrasound is a non-invasive, easily reproducible method that can also be used on an outpatient basis, unlike other methods such as MRI or CT scans.

It is a dynamic examination that, in the case of rheumatology, fits into the broader set of muscle-tendon ultrasound.

The method is each time aimed at assessing the diagnostic question; therefore, depending on the problem highlighted by the ultrasound scan, the patient is referred to the most appropriate specialist.

It is now also a method indicated in the diagnostic pathway of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Treatment, follow-up and intervention: the usefulness of ultrasound

In the course of treatment, it is particularly useful as it allows disease activity to be assessed.

It is mainly used in the context of inflammatory arthropathies, i.e. arthritis even at the onset.

During treatment, in fact, it may happen that the pathology appears to be under apparently good clinical control but, despite this, the patient continues to report pain: ultrasound makes it possible to understand whether the underlying cause of the pain is a flare-up of the disease or is related to another disorder, for example tendinitis.

In the face of pain, therefore, it directs the specialist’s choice of therapy and, even once the disorder has been treated, in the follow-up phase of the disease, it allows the physician to continue to assess disease activity.

It is also of great support in interventional procedures, because it can provide guidance in certain invasive procedures, such as infiltrations.

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Source:

Humanitas