Semi-dynamic MRI of climbing-associated injuries of the finger.

Abstract

Injuries of the flexor-tendon-pulley system are common in rock climbers. The status of the A3 pulley ligament is crucial for grading such injuries. As standard MRI may miss lesions of the A3 pulley ligament, we introduce a semi-dynamic MRI sequence. Twenty-two fingers (14 volunteers, 3 injured climbers) were scanned using a sagittal T1 turbo spin echo sequence (repetition time: 400ms, echo time: 14ms, slice thickness: 5mm) in six consecutive finger positions from stretched to maximum possible flexion. No pulley lesion was found in volunteers. Bowstringing was detected in 3 injured fingers including the A3 pulley. Semi-dynamic MRI is an technique that is easy to perform to identify injuries of the A3 pulley ligament that were not seen on standard imaging.