Abstract
Objective: Exercise can cause physiological and anatomical changes in muscle and its adjoining structures. Established imaging techniques are present to diagnose the changes. However, this data is focused more on muscle rather than tendons. The objective of this study was to determine changes in stiffness of distal biceps tendon caused due to training via elastography.
Design: Retrospective cohort study
Setting: College of Applied Medical Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, KSA
Subjects: Twenty healthy male subjects of Middle Eastern descent were studied. Subjects were divided according to their training activity. Individuals undergoing bicep training for 4 or more days in a week for at least a year were considered to be trained, while untrained individuals never went for biceps training during the last 1 year.
Intervention: Ultrasound elastography performed on biceps tendon
Main outcome measure: Stiffness of distal biceps tendon
Results: It was observed that training caused anatomically thicker distal biceps tendon while furthermore, it also caused the tendon stiffness to increase.
Conclusion: Stiffness and thickness of distal biceps tendon is dependent upon training. On the other hand, body mass index has no relationship with thickness or stiffness.