Advantages of the Ultrasound Study for the Diagnosis of Osteoarthritis in the Knee, Ankle and Foot

Ultrasound in recent years has been shown to be a valuable study; however, it is necessary to carry out research that highlights the use of this method in order to identify predisposing factors for osteoarthritis, as well as to have a classification that allows determining the phase in which the disease is currently.The research proposes to determine the effectiveness of the ultrasound for the diagnosis and monitoring of osteoarthritis. The study was made non-experimental, cross-sectional, descriptive, evaluating 100 subjects in both lower limbs. The predisposing findings found were misalignment of the extensor mechanism and the presence of undiagnosed lesions. The damages most frequent related to osteoarthritis were: thinning and irregularity of articular cartilage and cortical bone, synovitis, marginal osteophytes; concluding that the technological advances in ultrasound allow to show initial degenerative changes and we can visualize predisposing factors for this condition. *Address for correspondence: Dayneri León Valladares Ofragia 65, Las Palmas II, Arica, Chile Phone:+56951966235 E-mail:daynerileon1@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease, which has as its main characteristics, a degeneration progressive and loss of articular cartilage, subchondral bone, and involvement of synovial tissue, associated with changes in the peri-articular soft tissues (Mobasheri et al. 2017).With aging, the joint tissues are made less resistant to wear and begin to manifest as swelling, pain, and in many cases, loss of mobility of the joints. Changes occur in the soft tissues of the joints and the bones. This disease may correspond to a hereditary manifestation or inadequate habits during life. Osteoarthritis is one of the diseases benefited in its diagnosis by technological advances. In particular, the ultrasound (US) is gaining ground between other diagnostic imaging techniques in the study of osteoarthritis. Due to the high resolution shown, it can detect minimal alterations in the three articular structures predominantly affected by osteoarthritis: articular cartilage, synovial membrane, and subchondral bone (Vlychou et al. 2009). Cetina (2017) emphasizes that ultrasound allows the detection and quantification of joint effusion, the presence of thickening of the synovium and small bone erosions, although these cannot be visible by conventional radiography. He says that this means of diagnosis allows adequate evaluation of peri-articular and extra-articular structures such as tenosynovitis, calcifications, cysts, among others. The research carried out by Podlipská et al. (2017) point that the sonographic study allows identify the changes in the structure of the articular cartilage in patients with osteoarthritis. In addition, they make reference to the relationship between these changes and the presence of accompanying clinical manifestations. Acevedo et al. (2012) demonstrated in their study that before the appearance of clinical manifestations, internal modifications (changes of degenerative aspects in articular and per articular structures) were exposed in elderly patients. Unfortunately, despite technological advances in imaging and its use in the diagnosis and follow-up of conditions such as osteoarthritis, the researchers believe it is necessary to carry out research to evaluate the applicability of the sonographic study in the identification of initial Ethno Med, 12(3): 146-153 (2018) DOI: 10.31901/24566772.2018/12.03.561 2018 © Kamla-Raj 2018 OSTEOARTHRITIS DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND 147 osteoarthritic changes or factors that predispose to the degeneration of the peri-articular structures of the knee, ankle and foot. In the same way, the researchers think that a classification of osteoarthritis should be considered from the sonographic point of view. This has led researchers to arrive at the following objectives: