Bovine shoulder and hip models to teach ultrasound-guided injections

Physiatrists are well versed in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. In recent years, treatment of musculoskeletal disorders with ultrasound-guided injections has been gaining increasing popularity; however, teaching the proper technique and use of ultrasound remains a problem when resources and funding are limited. Therefore, we focused our attention on the use of a life-like experimental animal model to simulate ultrasound-guided glenohumeral and femoroacetabular joint injections.

A retrospective chart review was completed to determine the target depth and needle length of injections completed on patients within our clinic. This was compared to three bovine specimens obtained from a local butcher shop.

We found the average target depth to be 3.11 cm with a needle length of 4.50 cm from skin surface to the glenohumeral joint. The bovine glenohumeral joint target depth ranged between 1.27 and 3.23 cm with a needle length of 2.25 to 5.46 cm. The average femoroacetabular joint target depth was 4.66 cm with a needle length of 6.79 cm. The bovine femoroacetabular joint had a target depth of 4.39 cm with a needle length of 7.33 cm.

A bovine shoulder specimen is an appropriate and affordable model to simulate both the glenohumeral and femoroacetabular joints in ultrasound-guided injection training.