Abstract
Disorders affecting the ulnar nerve in the elbow are common in clinical practice. The diagnosis is based on clinical evaluation and electrodiagnostic tests, but imaging examinations are frequently necessary, particularly for the identification of the structures associated with nerve compression. The purpose of this video article is to review the anatomy, the pathology, scanning techniques, and sonographic appearance of the ulnar nerve in the elbow.
Similar content being viewed by others
Further reading
Husarik DB, Saupe N, Pfirrmann CW, Jost B, Hodler J, Zanetti M (2009) Elbow nerves: MR findings in 60 asymptomatic subjects—normal anatomy, variants, and pitfalls. Radiology 252:148–156
Draghi F (2018) Ultrasonography of the upper extremity: elbow. Springer International Publishing, Cham
Michelin P, Leleup G, Ould-Slimane M, Merlet MC, Dubourg B, Duparc F (2017) Ultrasound biomechanical anatomy of the soft structures in relation to the ulnar nerve in the cubital tunnel of the elbow. Surg Radiol Anat 39:1215–1221
Granger A, Sardi JP, Iwanaga J et al (2017) Osborne’s ligament: a review of its history, anatomy, and surgical importance. Cureus 9:e1080
Gregoli B, Bortolotto C, Draghi F (2013) Elbow nerves: normal sonographic anatomy and identification of the structures potentially associated with nerve compression. A short pictorial-video article. J Ultrasound 16(3):119–121
Draghi F, Bortolotto C (2016) Importance of the ultrasound in cubital tunnel syndrome. Surg Radiol Anat 38:265–268
Bianchi S, Draghi F, Beggs I (2011) Ultrasound of the peripheral nerves. Clinical ultrasound, vol 2. Elsevier Ltd., London, pp 1158–1167
Martinoli C, Bianchi S, Pugliese F et al (2004) Sonography of entrapment neuropathies in the upper limb (wrist excluded). J Clin Ultrasound 32:438–450
Shuttlewood K, Beazley J, Smith CD (2017) Distal triceps injuries (including snapping triceps): a systematic review of the literature. World J Orthop 8:507–513
Caliandro P, La Torre G, Padua R, Giannini F, Padua L (2016) Treatment for ulnar neuropathy at the elbow. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 11:CD006839
Liu CH, Wu SQ, Ke XB et al (2015) Subcutaneous versus submuscular anterior transposition of the ulnar nerve for cubital tunnel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and observational studies. Medicine (Baltimore) 94:e1207
Mahan MA, Gasco J, Mokhtee DB, Brown JM (2015) Anatomical considerations of fascial release in ulnar nerve transposition: a concept revisited. J Neurosurg 123:1216–1222
Yang M, Wang J, Yang X et al (2017) Use of high-resolution ultrasonography in anterior subcutaneous transposition of the ulnar nerve for cubital tunnel syndrome. Acta Neurochir Suppl 124:277–281
Won HS, Liu HF, Kim JH, Kwak DS, Chung IH, Kim IB (2016) Intermuscular aponeuroses between the flexor muscles of the forearm and their relationships with the ulnar nerve. Surg Radiol Anat 38:1183–1189
Cornelson SM, Sclocco R, Kettne NW (2019) Ulnar nerve instability in the cubital tunnel of asymptomatic volunteers. J Ultrasound 22(3):337–344
Santos-Faria D, Silva J, Azevedo S (2019) Sonoanatomy of anterior forearm muscles Joana Rodrigues. J Ultrasound 22(3):401–405
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
CB reports personal fees and non-financial support from Bracco Imaging, personal fees from Doc Congress outside the submitted work. The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Ethical standards statement
All human studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 and its later amendments.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Supplementary file1 (MP4 42817 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Draghi, F., Bortolotto, C., Ballerini, D. et al. Ultrasonography of the ulnar nerve in the elbow: video article. J Ultrasound 23, 335–336 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-020-00451-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-020-00451-0