Ekizos A, Papatzika F, Charcharis G, Bohm S, Mersmann F, Arampatzis A. Ultrasound does not provide reliable results for the measurement of the patellar tendon cross sectional area.
J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2013;
23:1278-82. [PMID:
24021864 DOI:
10.1016/j.jelekin.2013.08.004]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2013] [Revised: 08/07/2013] [Accepted: 08/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE
This study examined the reliability of patellar tendon cross sectional area (CSA) measurement using brightness mode ultrasonography.
METHODS
The patellar tendon CSA of fourteen participants was examined on two different days and at three different positions (proximal, median and distal). Five trials per day were conducted in each position, replacing the ultrasound probe on every trial. The images were examined by three different and equally experienced observers. We compared the mean of the five trials in each position to examine the day, observer and position effect. Further, Bland and Altman plots, root mean square (RMS) differences and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated.
RESULTS
There was a significant (p < 0.05) day, observer and position effect on the CSA, while the average ICC was 0.592. The Bland and Altman plots showed that differences between conditions or groups, should be in average lower than 37% or higher than 55% of the patellar tendon CSA to be important for clinical or intervention studies.
CONCLUSION
Our findings show low reliability of the method, which resulted from the low clarity and unclear visibility of tissue boundaries in the ultrasound images. Therefore, the measurement of the CSA of the patellar tendon using ultrasound does not provide accurate and reliable results.
Collapse