ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF WRIST SWELLING IN CHILDREN

Abstract

We studied 15 children using high resolution ultrasonography. In all patients, ultrasound clearly demonstrated the nature of the soft tissue abnormality; 11/15 had thickening of the common synovial sheaths surrounding extensor tendons of the fingers, 1/15 had thickening of the flexor tendons and 3/15 had abnormalities consistent with ganglion cysts. These results indicate that ultrasound is an important yet noninvasive tool in the assessment of wrist swelling in children.