title: Muscle contracture diagnosis: the role of sonoelastography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sonoelastography plays today a major role in musculoskeletal disease, showing minor muscle injuries not well appreciable in conventional B-mode ultrasonography and integrating it in major muscle injuries diagnosis. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the ability of elastosonography in the diagnosis of muscular contracture in football players presenting negative basic echography.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined twenty-two football players using basic echography and elastosonography approximately 24-48 hours after the traumatic event and we subsequently re-evaluated them after two weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Conventional echography showed, in the early stage, no muscle injuries; in twenty-two out of twenty-two patients, sonoelastography had instead underlined a heterogeneous colorimetric map, related to decreased elasticity in the area of the muscle contracture. An evaluation effected 1-2 weeks later showed a clear improvement of the sonoelastographic appearance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This information will be useful for prognostication, post-traumatic monitoring and to detect subclinical changes in MIs even before there are changes on the routine B-mode ultrasound.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy - dmilardi@unime.it.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bruschetta
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.|IRCCS Centro Neurolesi &quot;Bonino Pulejo&quot;, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Demetrio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Milardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Trimarchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: DI Mauro
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valenti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arrigo
authors.affiliation: Diagnostics Fiumara Centre, Santa Teresa Riva, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Valenti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cascio
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vaccarino
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cacciola
mesh_terms: D003286:Contracture / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012916:Soccer; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D014463:Ultrasonography