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Ultrasonographic measurements of the omohyoid muscle during shoulder muscles contraction

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Abstract

Background

The main function of the omohyoid muscle is to depress and withdraw the hyoid bone. This is an integral part of the swallowing process facilitating hyoid stabilization for tongue movement. Although the muscle is inferiorly attached to the scapula bone, its function during shoulder or scapula muscles contraction has yet not been studied.

Aim

To investigate whether changes occur in omohyoid muscle morphology during shoulder muscles contraction.

Methods

The study included 40 healthy subjects (20 males and 20 females, Mean age: 25.68 (± 2.90) years) examined via diagnostic ultrasound. Omohyoid muscle morphology measurements (thickness and cross-sectional area) during different shoulder position (0°, 90° abduction and elevation) in rest and during isomteric contraction were evaluated.

Results

The omohyoid muscle was activated when the shoulder was isometrically abducted at 90° abduction. Thickness and the cross-sectional area of the lower belly increased during contractions at 90° abduction compared with a resting position at 90° (p value < 0.01). No changes occurred at 0° isometric abduction. The CSA of the muscle was found to be significantly larger (p < 0.001) during contraction at 90° abduction compared with contraction at 0° abduction.

Conclusion

Omohyoid muscle was most contracted during abduction position with abduction shoulder muscles isometric contraction. Changes of the scapula position might influence omohyoid muscle function.

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Data availability

The data used and analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs. Phyllis Curchack Kornspan for her editorial services.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 3498838, Haifa, Israel

    Nadav Toledano & Gali Dar

  2. Physical Therapy Clinic, The Ribstein Center for Sport Medicine Sciences and Research, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel

    Gali Dar

Authors
  1. Nadav Toledano
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  2. Gali Dar
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by NT. The first draft of the manuscript was written by GD and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gali Dar.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by Institutional Review Board of the University of Haifa, Israel (#023/15).

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Toledano, N., Dar, G. Ultrasonographic measurements of the omohyoid muscle during shoulder muscles contraction. J Ultrasound 26, 711–716 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-022-00754-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-022-00754-4

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