Application of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the diagnosis of skeletal muscle crush injury in rabbits.

Abstract

To explore the diagnostic value of quantitative contrast-enhanced (CE) ultrasonography for crush injury in the hind limb muscles of rabbits. A total of 120 New Zealand white rabbits were randomized to receive compression on the left hind limb for either 2 h (n = 56) or 4 h (n = 56) to induce muscle crush injury. Another eight animals were not injured and served as normal controls. CE ultrasonography parameters such as peak intensity (PI), ascending slop, descending slop and area under curve (AUC) were measured at 0.5, 2, 6 and 24 h and 3, 7 and 14 days after decompression. Compared with the uninjured muscles, reperfusion of the injured muscles showed early and high enhancement in CE ultrasonography images. The time-intensity curve showed a trend of rapid lift and gradual drop. The PI and AUC values differed significantly among the three groups and were positively correlated with serum and tissue biomarkers. Rabbits of the 4-h compression group showed significantly higher PI and AUC values, and serum and tissue parameters than the 2-h compression group at each time points. CE ultrasonography can effectively detect muscle crush injury and monitor dynamic changes of the injured muscles in rabbits. PI and AUC are promising diagnostic parameters for this disease. CE ultrasonography might play an important role in the pre-hospital and bedside settings for the diagnosis of muscle crush injury.