Utility of musculoskeletal ultrasound in rheumatology, an update

Abstract

Recently, musculoskeletal ultrasound has generated increasing interest, allowing its gradual inclusion in rheumatology, changing the paradigm of both diagnosis and evaluation of activity in various conditions that present as arthritis. It is a non-invasive, cost-effective method that allows real time comparison between the US and clinical findings during evaluation of the patient, which increases the precision of the physical examination, evaluating several joints at the same time and allows immediate decision making. To carry out a standardized evaluation ofjoint ultrasound, the outcome measures in rheumatology (OMERACT) working group was created with the aim of identifying, standardizing and validating measurement tools, and clinically important definitions to be included in clinical trials, publishing the 2005 the ultraso- nographic definitions¹ and in 2019 the elementary lesions². Next, the available evidence of usefulness of ultrasound in the entire spectrum of arthritis progression, from arthralgia at risk to arthritis in remission, will be reviewed.