Use of Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Treatment of Peripheral Nerve Entrapment Syndrome

High resolution ultrasound has been applied on diagnosis and guided treatment for musculoskeletal ultrasound for years. Recently, its use on peripheral nerves opens a new era of peripheral nerve entrapment syndrome. When the nerve is entrapped, the segment proximal to the entrapment site appears swollen and hypoechoic on ultrasound imaging. Additional findings comprise loss of fascicular patterns, focal enlargement of neural fascicles and intra-neural hypervascularity can also be visualized. Besides conventional gray scale and B mode images, dynamic sonographic examinations may reveal abnormal excursion of the affected nerves. Using the advanced imaging technique, elastography, the entrapped nerves are found to be softer than the healthy controls. Therefore, ultrasound provides valuable anatomical and morphological evaluations of peripheral nerve entrapment syndrome in addition to functional assessment from electrophysiological studies.

Among all the entrapment syndromes, carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common followed by cubital tunnel syndrome. The sonographic diagnostic criteria have been well established in carpal tunnel syndrome but still appear inconsistent regarding others. In addition to diagnosis, ultrasound guided intervention has significantly improved the treatment success. However, there is lack of consensus regrading which ultrasound guided approaches or regimens are the best for certain nerve entrapment syndromes.

Therefore, in consideration of the emerging use of ultrasound on peripheral nerve diseases, we welcome any type of contribution (original researches, reviews, perspectives, etc.), investigating the aforementioned issues. Contributions from the research areas relevant to use of ultrasound in diagnosis and treatment of peripheral nerve entrapment syndrome are welcome.