Use of High Frequency Shear Wave™ Elastography (HFSWE) to identify and evaluate treatment of fascial adhesions

Authors: Paul Mettler PT DPT, Jeffrey Schroder PT DPT, Catherine Kleinmuntz PhD

Background:

HFSWE is a noninvasive diagnostic method with applications in the field of internal medicine, clinical dermatology and more recently physical therapy. HFSWE quantifies tissue stiffness using color images through echogenicity of Ultrafast™ ultrasound. Results include a colorized map and a quantification of tissue stiffness in kilopascals (KPAs). High frequency ultrasound can evaluate the effectiveness of altering tissue stiffness in tendons and myofascial tissue with dry needling and other manual therapies [1]. We believe HFSWE has broader applications in the evaluation of treatment effectiveness in reducing fascial stiffness. We present three cases using HFSWE representing a range of musculoskeletal problems: chronic meralgia parasthetica, chronic shoulder impingement pain and postoperative pain following five foot surgeries.

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2015.07.041