Correspondingly, ultrasound shows a flattening of the nerve under the arcade with a proximal swelling
in the sulcus. Cross-sectional areas greater than 0.1 cm2 accompanied by a hypoechoic appearance and loss of the honeycomb echotexture, are diagnostic for cubital tunnel syndrome. Another entity is caused by a repetitive subluxation or luxation of the nerve out of the sulcus leading to chronic pressure damage. Selleck Androgen Receptor Antagonist A lacking or loose humeroulnar arcade is postulated as a reason for this. In the case of subluxation, the ulnar nerve is located at the tip of the medial epicondyle at maximum elbow flexion. In the case of luxation, it is dislocated volar to the medial epicondyle. The nerve dislocation is often accompanied by a nerve swelling [2]. Further, space-occupying lesions such as ganglia, lipomas, arthritic changes, accessory muscles, or a dislocation of the medial triceps head (“snapping triceps syndrome”) can be reliably identified. In these mTOR inhibitor cases, the compression is often located proximal to the cubital tunnel, which may result in atypical electrophysiological findings. The diagnostic value of sonography is comparable with electrophysiological methods, in combination it improves the diagnostic yield. In addition,
it provides prognostic information: the extent of swelling in the sulcus correlates negatively with clinical improvement after surgery [8]. Since the less common compression syndromes affect mostly smaller nerves, the sonographic depiction of a direct nerve compression is more difficult. Therefore, the main role of sonography lies in the recognition of neighborhood processes as compression factors. Thus, sonography can detect space-occupying lesions such as ganglia or lipomas affecting the ulnar nerve in Guyon’s Loge, the median nerve at the proximal forearm, the interosseous posterior
nerve in the supinator tunnel, the axillary nerve in the quadrilateral space as well as the suprascapular nerve. In the so-called algetic interosseus-posterior-syndrome Protein tyrosine phosphatase an ultrasound-guided infiltration can be performed for diagnostic purposes. In thoracic-outlet-sydrome, sonography can reveal a compression of the spinal nerve C7 or C8 by a cervical rib. In the lower extremities, peroneal nerve at the fibular head and tibial nerve in the tarsal tunnel can be affected by different soft tissue masses (enlarged bursae, ganglia, heterotopic ossification after trauma). Especially the peroneal nerve can be affected by intraneural ganglia emerging from tibiofibular joint via the articular branch [9]. In Morton’s metatarsalgia a “neuroma-like enlargment” of the second or third plantar interdigital nerve can be seen. Even in obese patients with meralgia paresthetica, a compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve can be demonstrated and combined with an ultrasound-guided infiltration (personal experience).