Pediatric musculoskeletal ultrasound

Abstract

Musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) is rapidly becoming a very friendly and useful modality in the evaluation of musculoskeletal complaints. Whether it can compete with computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging as a gold standard is entirely a different discussion; what needs attention is that, especially when dealing with pediatric population, how it transcends the fine line of disadvantages over other cross-sectional modalities to become a faithful, well-serving, bedside, outpatient, inpatient, point-of-care tool. Childhood trauma, inflammatory pathologies, congenital malformations, and infective foci are more amenable to US today, and our growing awareness about the applications of this modality is creating the possibilities of early detection, confirmation, and without delay in treatment as a one-stop shop.