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14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT)

17.06. - 21.06.2019, Berlin

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging Correlate Clinical Features of Medial Epicondylitis

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  • presenting/speaker Chulhee Park - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Che ho Lee - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Young Ju Chae - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Yeun soo Kim - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Sehun Kim - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Hyun Sik Gong - Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea
  • Kee Jeong Bae - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Jihyeung Kim - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • Goo Hyun Baek - Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand. International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT). Berlin, 17.-21.06.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocIFSSH19-332

doi: 10.3205/19ifssh1227, urn:nbn:de:0183-19ifssh12275

Published: February 6, 2020

© 2020 Park et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Objectives/Interrogation: Little is known about the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and the clinical features or prognosis of medial epicondylitis (ME). We aimed to evaluate the key MRI findings in patients with ME and whether there are any correlations of MRI findings with the clinical features of ME.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 83 patients who had undergone elbow MRI examinations for ME and who were available for follow-up after more than 6 months. We selected five MRI findings for qualitative grading: signal changes of the common flexor tendon (CFT) origin, ulnar collateral ligament insufficiency, ulnar neuritis, bony changes of medial epicondyle, and calcification. We correlated these MRI findings with clinical features, such as symptom, history of steroid injection, ulnar nerve symptoms, and pain level at baseline and follow-up.

Results and Conclusions: The most common positive MRI finding was the signal changes on the CFT (66%), and the least common finding was bony changes (18%). Signal intensity of the CFT was found to be correlated with follow-up pain level (P = 0.008) and the number of steroid injections (P = 0.042). Signal intensity of the CFT was independently associated with follow-up pain level.

This study demonstrates that the changes in signal intensity in common flexor tendon origin is the most common MRI finding in ME. It also shows that the severity of the signal changes can predict follow-up pain level. This suggests that MRI examinations can be helpful in consulting on the prognosis of conservative treatment in patients with ME.