Orthopedic surgeons increasingly use ultrasound for preoperative planning

The use of ultrasound (US) by orthopedic surgeons is increasing dramatically. At orthopedic surgical meetings one can find increasingly special sessions dedicated to US evaluation of the shoulder. In an article about the use of Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) written by Itoigawa et al. (2018) the authors take the use of diagnostic US one step further and apply it to preoperative planning.  Several factors that affect the healing rate of shoulder rotator cuff tears have been elucidated, including tear size, degree of retraction, and degree of muscle atrophy. Identifying these factors preoperatively is critical for appropriate surgical planning and patient counseling. The ability of SWE with B-mode US can be a game changer with regard to patient counseling and preoperative planning > Dines (2018)