Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
PLoS One. 2013 Jun 25;8(6):e67199. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067199. Print 2013.
Pain and tenderness of the upper trapezius are the major complaints among people with chronic neck and shoulder disorders. Hyper-activation and increased muscle tension of the upper trapezius during arm elevation will cause imbalance of the scapular muscle force and contribute to neck and shoulder disorders. Assessing the elasticity of the upper trapezius in different arm positions is therefore important for identifying people at risk so as to give preventive programmes or for monitoring the effectiveness of the intervention programmes for these disorders. This study aimed to establish the reliability of supersonic shear imaging (SSI) in quantifying upper trapezius elasticity/shear elastic modulus and its ability to measure the modulation of muscle elasticity during arm elevation. Twenty-eight healthy adults (15 males, 13 females; mean age = 29.6 years) were recruited to participate in the study. In each participant, the shear elastic modulus of the upper trapezius while the arm was at rest and at 30° abduction was measured by two operators and twice by operator 1 with a time interval between the measurements. The results showed excellent within- and between-session intra-operator (ICC = 0.87-0.97) and inter-observer (ICC = 0.78-0.83) reliability for the upper trapezius elasticity with the arm at rest and at 30° abduction. An increase of 55.23% of shear elastic modulus from resting to 30° abduction was observed. Our findings demonstrate the possibilities for using SSI to quantify muscle elasticity and its potential role in delineating the modulation of upper trapezius elasticity, which is essential for future studies to compare the differences in shear elastic modulus between normal elasticity and that of individuals with neck and shoulder disorders.
在上颈和肩部疾病患者中，上斜方肌疼痛和压痛是主要症状。手臂抬高时上斜方肌过度活跃和肌肉张力增加会导致肩胛骨肌肉力量失衡，导致颈肩部疾病。因此，评估不同手臂位置的上斜方肌弹性对于识别高危人群非常重要，以便为这些疾病提供预防方案或监测干预方案的有效性。本研究旨在确定超声剪切波成像（SSI）在定量上斜方肌弹性/剪切弹性模量及其测量手臂抬高时肌肉弹性调制能力方面的可靠性。28 名健康成年人（15 名男性，13 名女性；平均年龄 29.6 岁）被招募参加研究。在每个参与者中，在手臂休息和 30°外展时，由两名操作员测量上斜方肌的剪切弹性模量，操作员 1 两次测量，两次测量之间有时间间隔。结果表明，在上斜方肌休息和 30°外展时，内-和间-会话内操作员（ICC = 0.87-0.97）和观察者间（ICC = 0.78-0.83）的弹性具有极好的可靠性。从休息到 30°外展，剪切弹性模量增加了 55.23%。我们的研究结果表明，SSI 可用于定量肌肉弹性，以及其在描绘上斜方肌弹性调制中的潜在作用，这对于未来的研究来比较正常弹性和颈肩部疾病患者的剪切弹性模量之间的差异非常重要。
