Adam Mullan, MD, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician at Gulf Breeze, Fla.-based Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, talked about how clinicians can use ultrasound technology to improve rehabilitative treatments.
Dr. Mullan spoke on the topic in Andrews Institute's new video series.
Note: Transcript was edited for style.
Dr. Adam Mullan: I would say over the past 20 years ultrasound has emerged to be a very important clinical tool, not only to aid us in the diagnosis and evaluation of certain musculoskeletal complaints, but also to assist us when it comes to injections. Landmark-based injections work well, and there are studies that show [clinicians] generally end up [injecting] the medication in the correct position. But there's nothing like doing an injection [with] ultrasound guidance and seeing the needle tip exactly where you want the medicine to go.
Ultrasound instills confidence in both the injector and the patient alike, knowing that if the injection doesn't work, it's not because the injection wasn't placed [properly]. There's a level of safety [with ultrasound] as well. The patient knows that we are able to see the nerves and blood vessels around the area of the injection and that [clinicians] are able to avoid those because we can see our needle in the trajectory.
I think ultrasound is going to become standard of care with joint injections and soft tissue injections in the future. Evidence shows that injections are more accurate with ultrasound guidance. The availability of ultrasound is [increasing] in clinic spaces and with ultrasound-guided injections being so affordable for patients, it just makes sense for physical medicine and rehabilitation providers to use it.
To view the complete video series, click here.