Abstract
Disorders affecting the ulnar nerve in the elbow are common in clinical practice. The diagnosis is based on clinical evaluation and electrodiagnostic tests, but imaging examinations are frequently necessary, particularly for the identification of the structures associated with nerve compression. The purpose of this video article is to review the anatomy, the pathology, scanning techniques, and sonographic appearance of the ulnar nerve in the elbow.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1007/s40477-020-00451-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Keywords: Ultrasonography, Ulnar nerve, Elbow, Anatomy, Neuropathy
Objective
Disorders affecting the ulnar nerve in the elbow are common in clinical practice. The diagnosis is based on clinical evaluation and electro-diagnostic tests, but imaging examinations are frequently necessary, particularly for the identification of the structures associated with nerve compression.
The purpose of this video article is to review the anatomy, the pathology, scanning techniques, and sonographic appearance of the ulnar nerve in the elbow.
Conclusion
The ulnar nerve is the most commonly injured nerve at the elbow, owing to its location, unprotected by soft tissues.
The most common conditions that affect the ulnar nerve include entrapment neuropathy, dislocation and dislocation of the medial head of the triceps muscle with ulnar nerve dislocation.
Surgical treatment of neuropathy may be required and secondary neuropathy after surgical decompression may occur.
Ultrasonography is a reliable method for the evaluation of the ulnar nerve in the elbow, of the neuropathy and of the structures that may cause compression.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest
CB reports personal fees and non-financial support from Bracco Imaging, personal fees from Doc Congress outside the submitted work. The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Ethical standards statement
All human studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 and its later amendments.
Footnotes
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Further reading
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