Shoulder postures during ultrasound examination using different transducers

• Published in: Revista brasileira de fisioterapia (São Carlos (São Paulo, Brazil)) Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 63 - 69
• Main Authors: Oliveira, AB, Sato, TO, Paschoarelli, L C, Gil Coury, HJC
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: 01.04.2005
• ISSN: 1413-3555

Background: The high incidence of shoulder disorders in the general population makes preventive measures necessary. Some occupational activities, such as diagnostic ultrasonography, present risks to the musculoskeletal system. Among the risks present in ultrasound equipment operators' working environment is the use of transducers that require repeated handling while adopting arm postures that are sometimes extreme. In this light, it may be supposed that these arm postures could be improved by redesigning the transducers according to ergonomic principles. However, a redesign aiming at improving postures in one joint must not create problems in another. Objective: To verify whether a redesign of the ultrasound transducers aimed at improving wrist postures would imply any alteration in shoulder abduction movement, and also to describe the amplitudes of these movements during simulated ultrasound examinations. Method: Eleven subjects simulated the ultrasound operator's tasks, making use of two commercial transducers and two ergonomically redesigned transducers. Markers were attached to anatomical points to enable calculation of the amplitude of the abduction movement by means of photometry. Differences in amplitudes were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The utilization of all four transducers analyzed caused extreme amplitudes for shoulder abduction movements. There were also no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the amplitudes of the shoulder abduction movements when the different transducers were handled, indicating the need for further ergonomic changes to the ultrasound operator's workplace.