Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the test-retest reliability of ultrasound (US) thickness measurements and the muscle contraction ratio (CR) of lumbar multifidus (LM) and transversus abdominis (TA) muscles in participants with and without nonspecific chronic low back pain (NCLBP). Methods: A total of 62 participants (37 with NCLBP, 25 without NCLBP) with participated in the study. The within-day and between-day reliability of US thickness measurements and CR in a lying (supine for TA and prone for LM) and sitting positions for both muscles (sitting on a gym ball with both feet on the ground or lifting one foot off the floor) were assessed. Reliability analysis was performed with intraclass correlations (ICCs) for these two static and dynamic positions. Results: Test-retest reliability was calculated to be good to high for the static position (ICC = 0.72–0.95) and the dynamic position (ICC = 0.74–0.94) sonographic measurements in both group of TA measurement. Test-retest reliability of LM measurements was good to high for the static position (ICC = 0.82–0.95) and the dynamic position (ICC = 0.85–0.97) sonographic measurements in both groups. Conclusions: US imaging is a highly reliable method for the assessment of TA and LM thickness muscles in the dynamic position in participants with and without NCLBP. The CR measures may be adequately reliable in assessing the function of the TA and LM muscles in participants with NCLBP and healthy ones.

Tendinopathy is a common disease that affects athletes, causing pain and dysfunction to the afflicted tendon. A clinical diagnose is usually combined with imaging and, among all the existing techniques, ultrasound is widely adopted. The aim of this review is to sum up the existing evidence on ultrasound as an imaging tool and guide for treatments in lower limbs tendinopathy. Using three different databases—PubMed, MEDLINE and CENTRAL—a literature search has been performed in May 2020 combining MeSH terms and free terms with Boolean operators. Authors independently selected studies, conducted quality assessment, and extracted results. Ultrasound imaging has a good reliability in the differentiation between healthy and abnormal tendon tissue, while there are difficulties in the identification of tendinopathy stages. The main parameters considered by ultrasound imaging are tendon thickness, hypoechogenicity of tendon structure and neovascularization of the tendon bound tissue. Ultrasound-guide is also used in many tendinopathy treatments and the available studies gave encouraging results, even if further studies are needed in this field.

Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular transmission disorder characterized by weakness of the cranial and skeletal muscles, however, neuropathies are extremely rare. In this case report we present a case of a 61-year-old man diagnosed Myasthenia gravis who came to our attention due to a 1 week of acute deep pain [NPRS 8/10] in the anterior and medial right knee which occurred during walking [NPRS 8/10] or stair climbing [NPRS 9/10]. A complete medical record and clinical examination based on physical exploration and ultrasound assessment confirmed a infrapatellar saphenous neuralgia. Therapeutic interventions included Percutaneous nerve electrical stimulation combined with pain neuroscience education, neural mobilization of the saphenous nerve and quadriceps resistance exercises. After 4 weeks, pain intensity [NRPS = 1/10], knee functionality [OKS = 41/48] and lower limb functionality [LLFI = 80%] were notably improved, nevertheless, fatigue [RPE = 2/10] was similar than baseline. At 2 months of follow-up, the effect on intensity of pain NRPS [0/10] and functionality OKS [40/48] and LLFI [82%] was maintained, however, no significant clinical changes were detected on perceived fatigue RPE Scale [2/10]. Despite the important methodological limitations of this study, our case report highlights the efficacy of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation combined with physical agents modalities for pain and functionality of infrapatellar saphenous neuralgia in the context of Myasthenia gravis.