Ultrasound Scans With Guided Steroid Injections

A GP or medical referral is not required, we provide quick access to precision diagnosis that will help establish an effective treatment for your presenting problem.

Only one appointment is required to provide you with a cost effective, full musculoskeletal assessment of the presenting complaint, diagnostic ultrasound scan, injury management plan, pain relief with a guided steroid injection and full report, or, if required, an onward referral to your GP or Consultant for further assessment of treatment options.

What Happens During An Ultrasound Scan

A small device called an ultrasound probe is used to produce high frequency sound waves. You can’t hear these soundwaves, but when they bounce and reflect off different parts of the body, they create “echoes” that are detected by the probe and converted into moving images of your muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, and joints. These images are displayed on a screen that you can view, in real time during your scan.

Benefits Of An Ultrasound Scan?

Ultrasound scans provide an accurate diagnosis of the presenting problem and are advantageous in diagnosing sprains, strains, tears, trapped nerves, arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions.

Imaging is dynamic; both you and the probe can be positioned to view all angles around the problem area, unlike MRI and CT scans where you remain stationery and not all perspectives can be examined.

Images are observed in real time with full explanation of the findings at your appointment, enabling you to fully understand your injury and make informed decisions regarding onward treatment options and choices.

Guided Injections/Interventions

Ultrasound scans are valuable in guiding steroid injections directly into the target tissue area, increasing the effectiveness of the assessment or treatment.

Guided steroid injections are advantageous in treating several musculoskeletal problems and are recommended if a patient has previously received a non-guided injection with limited benefit.

Conditions treated with Guided steroid injections include:

• Plantar Faciitis
• Achilles Tendinopathy
• Persistent Frozen Shoulder and Rotator cuff pain
• Persistent Elbow pain including Tennis / Golfers Elbow
• Lateral Hip pain/Greater Trochanter Pain Syndrome (GTPS)
• Wrist tendinopathies including De quervains
• Small joint Osteoarthritis in hands and feet
• Hip and knee Bursitis
• Trigger finger / Trigger thumb

Other ultrasound guided interventions include:

• Hyaluronan therapy for inflammatory arthritic conditions
• Diagnostic injections with local anaesthetic.
• Hydrodilitation for stubborn frozen shoulders.
• High Volume Injections (HVI) for chronic tendinopathies.
• Barbotage for calcific tendinopathies.

Who Performs The Scan And Injection

Rich Rendle is an experienced orthopaedic practitioner physiotherapist with over 20 years of experience. He graduated in 2002, qualified as an independent prescriber in 2015 and completed graduate training in Ultrasonography in 2016.

Rich now spends most of his time performing scans and guided injections in secondary and primary care settings. Rich has also set up an orthopaedic triage service in Exeter.

What Can You Expect During Your Appointment

We will take a thorough history of your presenting condition, previous medical history and any prior treatments received for your current injury. A physical examination will be undertaken to assess the site of injury and appropriateness for injection.

Please wear appropriate loose clothing to your appointment (a vest top or loose T shirt for upper limb issues and shorts or loose trousers for hip and lower limbs).

An ultrasound scan of the area will be performed, during which the clinician will talk you through the findings and discuss recommendations for treatment. The images will be saved to your clinic records with a report e-mailed to you.

Some of the treatments that may be recommend include:

• An ultrasound guided steroid injection – you will be advised of the benefits and risks and if you decide to proceed, the injection can be given at the same appointment. If you prefer to consider this option, you can contact the clinic to make an appointment for the guided injection at a later date.
• Continued physiotherapy – where a structural injury or clinical target for an injection is not visualised we will advise if continuing with physiotherapy treatment is appropriate.
• Other courses of action – if a more significant injury is identified, or if the injection is deemed unsuitable, we will advise on other appropriate courses of action which may include writing to your GP or insurance company, advising on further scans or an onward referral to Orthopaedics for surgical opinion.

How Long Will The Appointment Take?

Each examination is different and depends on the particular body area to be examined and whether an injection is administered.  Be prepared for the appointment to last between 45 to 60 minutes to complete.

Are There Any Risks Or Side Effects?

Ultrasound is considered a harmless method of imaging the body, it is safe, non-invasive and does not use radiation. There are no known side-effects.

An ultrasound guided injection is considered a relatively safe procedure with minimal risk.  Using ultrasound to guide the needle reduces the chances of causing harm to the surrounding structures.

Side effects related to the injection procedure may include bleeding, infection, numbness, weakness, or allergic reaction to the medications used. All of which will be thoroughly discussed during your appointment.

How To Book

Ultrasound scans and guided injections cannot be booked online – please telephone us on 01752 664519 or enquire by e-mail.