Reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for measuring quadriceps femoris muscle thickness.
João Pinto-Ramos, Cristina Costa-Santos, Frederico Costa and 6 others
PMID 36052891WHAT IT FOUND
Point-of-care ultrasound measured quadriceps and rectus femoris thickness reliably in 29 rehabilitation patients, especially when averaging two scans.
Trained and untrained observers agreed equally well.
Key findings
01Same-observer and different-observer agreement was over 0.90 for both rectus femoris and quadriceps femoris thickness.
02Averaging measurements improved same-observer reliability for rectus femoris and quadriceps femoris compared with some single measurements.
03There were no significant differences in reliability between trained and untrained observers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was single-center and included patients from an acute tertiary rehabilitation hospital, so results may not apply to other settings. Thirty-five patients were selected but only 29 were assessed because of loss of follow-up. The probe was placed 15 cm above the patella, which may not be the thickest part of the muscle. The sample was heterogeneous, and higher ICC values may have resulted from greater muscle thickness variability. Measurements were separated by 3 hours, so hourly changes in muscle thickness may have affected reliability. The study was cross-sectional, so it does not show that ultrasound thickness can track change over time or diagnose conditions.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that ultrasound thickness can diagnose sarcopenia or guide recovery from this paper. It tested measurement agreement in 29 rehabilitation patients at one hospital. It did not test diagnosis, treatment response, or outcomes over time.