Ultrasonographic examination of skeletal muscles in traumatic ischemia (experimental study)

Abstract

Post-traumatic muscles ischemia of the extremities is the result of severe trauma and leads to permanent dysfunction. The tactics of management and treatment of patients are decisive at all stages, so the latest methods of treatment using cellular technologies are being developed to prevent the development of complications and improve long-term results. Aim: to determine the correlation between histological and ultrasonographic parameters (qualitative and quantitative) in the muscles after traumatic ischemia and to compare the results. Material and methods. The study was performed on rabbits breed Chinchilla. The animals were placed on a tourniquet on the lower limb from the middle third of the thigh to the ankle joint, after 6 hours it was removed. Developed software to determine the texture of the sonographic image (δ-entropy) allowed to assess the qualitative and quantitative changes in the damaged muscles. Correlation analysis was performed between sonographic and histological changes in the muscles. Results. The relative amount of structurally altered tissue was morphometrically estimated and compared with entropy. A high correlation between muscle damage and vertical δ-entropy has been found, indicating that high-probability sonography can detect areas of necrosis and, to a lesser extent, fibrosis in the development of ischemic limb contracture. Conclusions. The obtained high positive correlation between the histological index of muscle tissue damage (especially atrophy of muscle fibers and fibrosis) and the results of sonographic data processing, namely vertical δ-entropy, have clinical importance in terms of establishing the severity of necrotic lesions segments of the extremities and the prediction of fibrous changes, formation of limb contracture. Key words: traumatic ischemia, necrosis, histological changes in the muscles.