DETECTION OF INCREASED BLOOD-FLOW TO THE AFFECTED ARM IN REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY WITH RADIONUCLIDE AND DOPPLER ULTRASOUND STUDIES - A CASE-REPORT

A case of clinically diagnosed repetitive strain injury was referred f or investigation to rule out the possibility of an occult bone disease . The patient was a female keyboard operator who had pain and tenderne ss over the flexor muscles of the right hand and arm. The pain was sev ere and almost constant. The authors observed an increase in Tc-99m MD P delivery to the affected forearm during the dynamic sequence of a th ree-phase bone scintigram, indicating increased blood flow compared to the contralateral side. The same result was achieved using quantitati ve blood flow measurements with the Doppler technique and Tc-99m HMPAO perfusion imaging. These findings agree with recent studies that sugg est increased total arm blood flow in repetitive strain injury and may provide an easy screening method.