Msk ultrasound

Ultrasound-Guided Injections

CPT 76942

Benefits :

1. It allows the doctor to see where he is putting the needle, thus increasing the efficacy of the injection/nerve block. The patient gets better pain relief--which is the goal.

The patient is happy and so is the referring physician. This should lead to more referrals

2. This visualization decreases the chance of complications. This is better patient care and decreases liability.

3. With ultrasound guidance, a doctor may feel more comfortable performing a wider variety of procedures. The ability to have more options for pain relief, increases patient care and increases his/her ability to keep the patient in his practice.

4. Using ultrasound can decrease the actual time spent doing the procedure. This is easier on the patient which improves patient care and allows the practitioner to see more patients in a day. This also improves patient care.

Ultrasound Guided Pain Managment Injection Techniques -

Steven D. Waldman

Recent Studies Show Ultrasound Guidance is More Accurate

"They found that approximately one third of knee and ankle injections were extra-articular, only half of the wrist injections were definitely intra-articular, with even less accuracy reported for shoulder injections. Remarkably, even the ability to aspirate synovial fluid was not a perfect predictor of intra-articular placement of steroid injections with almost half of extra-articular injections having been associated with successful aspiration of synovial fluid. Experience beyond advanced trainee/registrar level did not appear to influence the accuracy of injection placement."

Ann Rheum Dis 2004, 63:1007-1008

doi:10.1136/ard.2004.020685

Concise summaries of recent journal articles chosen for clinical significance Ultrasonographic guidance boosts joint injection accuracy

Corticosteroid injection in the joints of patients with inflammatory arthritis results in significant alleviation of symptoms and improvement in functional status. Ultrasound-guided injections are significantly more accurate than clinical examination (CE)-guided injections.

Ultrasound-guided injections were accurate in 83% of patients, compared with 66% of patients who had CE-guided injections. There was a trend toward increased accuracy with US-guided injections for all joints, particularly the shoulder, elbow, and ankle. The greater accuracy of US-guided injections held true regardless of the physician’,s level of experience.

The Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine. Vol. 27 No. 9

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