Ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal interventions and professional boundaries: an international expert opinion.
Ahmad J Abdulsalam, Klemen Grabljevec, Buğra Ince, Ahmed El-Oumri, Orhan Güvener, Carmelo Pirri, Ke-Vin Chang, Jakub Jacisko, Muhammad T Khalil, Nimish Mittal, Murat Kara, Kamal Mezian, Vincenzo Ricci, Farooq A Rathore, Bayram Kaymak, Marta Imamura, Christopher Visco, Alaeldin Elmalik, Giorgio Ferriero, Levent Özçakar
PMID 42266160WHAT IT FOUND
An international group of 20 rehabilitation doctors argues that ultrasound-guided injections should stay physician-only, and that regulators should say so explicitly.
It reports no patients or outcomes, so it is a position statement, not evidence.
What this paper is
This is an international expert opinion, not a study. Twenty rehabilitation physicians from 14 countries wrote it after a narrative literature search, with no formal consensus method such as a Delphi process, and the authors themselves rate it as Level V evidence. It argues that ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal injections and other ultrasound-guided procedures should remain physician-led, and calls on international professional bodies to define these procedures as medical acts. It reports no patients, no procedures performed and no outcomes, so there is nothing here to change what you do with a patient. Read it as a position statement on professional boundaries, not as evidence about safety.
Declared interests
The authors state they received no external funding, and certify no conflict of interest with any financial organisation regarding the material discussed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that ultrasound-guided injections are dangerous in non-physician hands, or safer in physician hands. No patients, procedures or outcomes were measured here. What the document offers is the professional opinion of its authors, and they state that they did not use a formal consensus method to reach it.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →