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Reliability of real-time ultrasound for the assessment of transversus abdominis function
Adrian W Kidd1, Scott Magee, Carolyn A Richardson
1University of Queensland, Department of Physiotherapy Brisbane, Australia. kidd_adrian@hotmail.com
Unlabelled:
Transversus abdominis (TrA) has now been established as a key muscle for the stabilization of the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints. Significantly, dysfunction of this muscle has also been implicated in low back pain. Real-time ultrasound (US) is a non-invasive procedure that has the potential to evaluate objectively the function of TrA.
Objective:
To investigate M-mode US as a reliable method of assessing TrA function.
Method:
M-mode US was used to measure the width of TrA as subjects drew in their lower abdominal wall at a controlled speed to a target depth. Eleven subjects were imaged.
Results:
the measures of TrA width were reliable and ranged between 3.14mm relaxed and 6.35mm contracted. The standard error of measurement ranged between 0.18mm and 0.57mm.
Conclusion:
M-mode US provides a reliable non-invasive measure of a controlled contraction of TrA.
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