Quantitative Measurement of Muscle Atrophy and Fat Infiltration of the Supraspinatus Muscle Using Ultrasonography After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair

Objective: To investigate the utility of ultrasonography to objectively examine morphological changes (i.e., muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration) of the supraspinatus muscle.

Methods: Thirty-four patients were prospectively enrolled in this study. The degrees of muscle atrophy and fat infiltration were measured using ultrasonography 3-4 months after arthroscopic supraspinatus tendon repair. Shoulder function (i.e., shoulder active range of motion, visual analogue scale, and constant score) was examined. Using the symmetricity of the muscles in the human body, the degrees of morphological changes of the supraspinatus muscle were quantitatively measured. The associations between the morphological changes of the supraspinatus muscle and shoulder function were identified.

Results: There were statistically significant differences in the cross-sectional area (CSA) and echogenicity between the surgery and non-surgery sides (p<0.001). The CSA ratio, which represents the degree of muscle atrophy, was associated with shoulder forward flexion, external rotation, and constant score; however, the echogenicity ratio, which represents the degree of fat infiltration, was not associated with shoulder function after surgery.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that shoulder function could be predicted by evaluating the morphological changes of the supraspinatus muscle using ultrasonography and that objective evaluation is possible through quantitative measurement using the symmetricity of the human body.