Imaging Tendon Disorders in Athletes

Imaging plays a critical role in evaluating pathology affecting athletes from various fields. Tendon pathology manifests in terms of mechanical, degenerative, enthesitis, neoplastic, and overuse diseases. Tendon pathologies in athletes usually involve injuries to commonly injured tendons such as the tendons involving the ankle, elbow, rotator cuff, hip abductors, patellar tendon, and Achilles tendon. For the purposes of this article, the focus will be on the tendons involving the ankle such as the tibialis posterior and peroneal tendons. The 2 most common imaging modalities used for the evaluation of tendons are ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There are several emerging imaging techniques such as T2 mapping, ultra-short echo time MRI, and sonoelastography. These novel imaging techniques are all in research phase and have not been adapted to routine clinical practice.