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One of the most vulnerable parts of the human musculoskeletal system is the elbow joint, since more often it is on him that there is support in any fall, loads when lifting weights, as well as numerous human motor activities. That is why diseases of the elbow joint are very common in medical practice and require prompt treatment and diagnosis. As the last medicine offers an x-ray of the elbow joint, which enough informatively demonstrates doctor the presence of various anomalies in it through the use x-rays.
Features of the procedure
On any x-ray of the elbow joint, traumatologists will be able to see bone growths, not characteristic of the normal state of bone structures, discrepancy between the surfaces of the joints, as well as areas where calcium salts began to be deposited.
At the same time, radiography can help identify all existing anomalies, make a diagnosis, diagnose complications and those signs of this pathology that can affect or already affect other organs and systems, prescribe a treatment regimen and monitor its dynamics.
X-ray diagnostics of the elbow area is a research medical method with which you can get a complete picture of the state of the corresponding part of the human body by directing a special device to thehis x-rays. This gives the specialist as a result an objective image of the area under study. It is important to know that soft tissues are capable of transmitting X-rays, while hard tissues, on the contrary, absorb them.
Due to this difference in the images, specialists can see bone tissue painted in a very light, almost white color, and all soft tissues will have shades of gray – from lighter to almost black. According to this change in shades, the doctor can judge what pathologies are present in the area under study.
At the same time, experts believe that X-ray is the best diagnostic technique for analyzing the state of bone tissue.
Related and additional research methods
Modern digital X-ray equipment provides doctors with images on the screen of a connected computer, on paper or digital.
At the same time, radiologists say that the pathological conditions of the joints cannot always be fully displayed on an x-ray, so other examination methods are also used for them:
- computed tomography of the joints;
- ultrasonography;
- Magnetic resonance imaging.
Each of the above methods demonstrates to specialists certain fabrics, including, soft tissues of patients – muscles, tendons and ligaments. High accuracy of diagnostic methods data allows you to complement information about the pathological aspects of various periarticular tissues.
To analyze the cavities inside the joints, it is necessary to puncture the synovial capsule. The procedure is carried out with the collection of joint exudate. Impurities are easily determined in this joint fluid, which may indicate a number of diseases. In more detail, these impurities are studied in laboratories under a microscope, and already on the basis of such conclusions, experts draw conclusions about infectious or non-infectious nature disease.
If it is necessary to study the structure of the joints, another diagnostic technique is used – arthroscopy.
Arthroscopy is performed by two punctures, in the first of which an arthroscope with a special camera is inserted, and in the second, the necessary manipulations are performed with special tools.
In this case, such a procedure is very informative and provides specialists with the opportunity to see for themselves the development of various pathologies.
According to clinicalmanifestations diseases, doctors choose those diagnostic methods or their complex that can most accurately provide information about all the processes occurring in the human elbow joint in order to timely and accurately diagnose and prescribe the necessary therapy.
Symptoms for radiography
By its nature, the anatomy of the elbow joint is quite complex. It consists of such simple joints as the humeroulnar, humeroradial and radioulnar. All of them are combined into a common special joint capsule. At the same time, the elbow is one of the most frequently affected parts of the human body with all kinds of injuries.
In cases of degenerative-dystrophic changes in the elbow joint or all kinds of injuries of this zone, patients experience the corresponding symptoms:
- soreness of the elbow joint area;
- joint mobility disorders;
- local changes temperature;
- swelling and redness in the area of the sore elbow;
- constant deviation of the position of the hand from the longitudinal axis of the radial and ulnar axes or clubhand.
Powerful physical activity also provokes the occurrence of pathologies in the elbow area. All this leads to very frequent diseases in this area.
For the purpose of preliminary diagnosis or to clarify the details of the pathological process in the elbow joint, doctors an x-ray of this organ is prescribed, which will allow visualizing all bone changes and inflammatory processes in the elements of the articulation.
Indications and contraindications for radiography of the elbow joint
Among the main indications for an x-ray examination of the elbow joint, doctors identify all kinds of injuries (fractures, dislocations, etc.), inflammatory and degenerative changes (arthrosis, arthritis, etc.), the occurrence of neoplasms of various etiologies.
Radiography of the elbow joint perfectly demonstrates to specialists all the pathologies of the bone tissue.
At the same time, using x-rays, doctors can assess the size of cracks in the bones or intra-articular fissures, with the narrowing of which one can talk about the beginning process of arthrosis or arthritis. It is also possible to draw conclusions about the state distal surfaces of the humerus bones, bones of the forearms and the area that is adjacent to the joint under study.
Contraindications for radiography exist and they are associated, first of all, with the effect of radiation on the human body. The more advanced the equipment with which the study is carried out, the smaller the dose of radiation enters the human body.
Modern X-ray machines allow diagnostics with minimal harm to an adult.
However, this does not apply to children, since radiation can adversely affect the subsequent growth process, inhibiting it. That is why radiography is performed on children strict indications under the age of 14 and are not administered to pregnant women.
However, sometimes, if there is a question about the diagnosis of severe pathologies, radiography is also prescribed for these categories of patients. At the same time, doctors try to choose only high-quality equipment, and how to protect the eyes, genitals and thyroid gland of patients during the examination from radiation.
Procedure procedure
The patient does not need to prepare in advance for an x-ray examination of the elbow joint. X-ray images in the area of the elbow joint, as a rule, are performed in three different projections – direct, lateral and axial.
The patient during the x-ray must sit, and the hand that is to be diagnosed is located on a special stand. With a strong impairment of mobility in the examined joint, it is allowed to carry out diagnostics in standing or lying positions. For direct projection, the patient is seated next to the stand in a position sideways to it.
Кассета diagnostic equipment should be placed under the back surface of the joint. In this case, the arm should be fully extended and also completely retracted in the shoulder joint.
For a lateral projection, it is necessary to bend the arm at the elbow joint at a right angle and take it as far as possible in the shoulder. In this case, x-rays are necessarily directed exactly to the middle of the cubital fossa. In the axial projection, the most accurate and informative images of the posterior humerus and olecranon are obtained.
After all the necessary projection images have been taken, the radiologist begins to decipher them and prepare a description of what he saw in the images. The finished description and the resulting images must be provided to the attending physician, who prepared the referral for the patient’s x-ray.