What Is the Difference Between the Appearance of Tendinosis and Tendon Tears on Ultrasound?

Login

Password

Forgot your password?

Join VuMedi

Select specialty

First name

Last name

Choose Password

About Us
Careers
Partner with us
F.A.Q
Contact us
Terms & conditions
Privacy policy

Playback speed

10 seconds

What Is the Difference Between the Appearance of Tendinosis and Tendon Tears on Ultrasound?

By Learn MSK Sono FEATURING Jamie Bie, RMSKS, RVT, RDMS

0 views

May 29, 2023

What characteristics help distinguish the appearance of tendinosis from a tendon tear on ultrasound?

A ...
read more ↘ normal tendon appears as a firmly packed echogenic structure with a uniform, fibrillar pattern.

Features of tendinosis:
- Hypoechoic thickening of the tendon
- Heterogeneous echotexture
- Loss of fibrillar pattern without disruption of fibers
- Indistinct margins
- Intrasubstance cystic degeneration
- Hyperemia with power doppler from neovascularization

Findings may be focal or diffuse!

Features of tendon tearing:
- Discrete defect seen in tendon substance
- Sharp margins of defect
- Typically anechoic gap, but may have mixed echogenicity due to hemorrhage or debris
- No vascularity will be present within defect, even if internal echoes are present
- Tears may be partial thickness or full thickness

Small partial tears can be difficult to differentiate from tendinosis, but treatment is conservative for both findings.
↖ read less

Comments 0