Abstract
Over the last few years, more papers were published related to the usefulness of sciatic nerve ultrasound elastography in clinical practice. Ultrasound elastography is a diagnostic method, to measure elasticity and strain in tissues and organs. The aim of this review was to highlight the usefulness of sciatic nerve ultrasound elastography in clinical practice, strictly compared with electromyography and MRI findings. Sonoelastographic evaluation was performed predominantly in patients with deep gluteal syndrome (DGS). The results were processed by meta-analysis. In this review, in the final processing, 16 studies were identified, 4 with strain ratio, 12 with shear wave elastography. The data was collected in a timeframe of 2013 to 2019. Looking at the reviewed studies, different techniques were applied (quasi-static, ARFI and shear wave elastography), with various joint movements, several “region of interest”, non-standardized measurement units and patients with dissimilar pathologies. The review summary leads to conclude that sciatic nerve ultrasound elastography test is not well clinically standardized. The nerve and surrounding muscles have to be assessed by color scale and B mode. Determining strain index may be useful, on particular equipment and within the same institution. The shear wave technique provides us with more secure and direct results, comparable to those of other institutions and researchers. This method is the most proven for deep gluteal syndrome with a wide range of manifestations, unilateral lumbar disc hernia, the assessment of sports injuries, to study musculoskeletal activity, monitoring the course of rehabilitation and in monitoring postoperative recovery.
Keywords
Sciatic nerve elastography, Shear wave, ARFI, Strain elastography, Deep gluteal syndrome