Muscle injuries: the importance of high-resolution dynamic sonography in diagnostics, treatment and monitoring

Muscle injuries are common in football. Imaging diagnostics have a major role in establishing a diagnosis. The main diagnostic procedures are MRI and ultrasound. Both diagnostics have advantages and disadvantages, which should be balanced against each other. The role of MRI as the gold standard is increasingly being replaced by high-resolution ultrasound techniques, and MRI imaging is not always useful. To detect complications in the early stages it is advised to perform regular ultrasound-imaging check-ups. The healing process can be monitored, and it offers additional options for ultrasound-guided interventions such as hematoma punctures and targeted infiltrations. However, ultrasound imaging is highly user dependent. Experienced operators can eliminate this disadvantage, which makes ultrasound a superior imaging system in many areas, especially for dynamic examinations. Nevertheless, MRI imaging remains a necessary imaging method in certain areas.