Robert Wonink¹*, Gythe Bulstra², Peter Swinkels³ and Kazeem Waris Abiodun⁴

¹MSK Sonographer and Podiatrist, Bergman Clinics, Naarden, Netherlands; Lecturer Musculoskeletal Sonography, Foot and Ankle Department, SonoSkills, Roermond, Netherlands
²M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon, Bergman Clinics, Naarden, Netherlands
³MSK-Sonographer, podiatrist, Podozorg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
⁴Data Analyst, Bsc. (in view) Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Robert Wonink, MSK Sonographer and Podiatrist, Bergman Clinics, Naarden, Netherlands; Lecturer Musculoskeletal Sonography, Foot and Ankle Department, SonoSkills, Roermond, Netherlands.

Received: March 03, 2025; Published: March 31, 2025

Abstract

Purpose: To develop a reliable ultrasound method for measuring flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon excursion in adults.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the reliability of the ultrasound-based measurement of FHL tendon excursion in 37 adults. A total of 444 ultrasound measurements were performed on 17 females and 20 males with 11 asymptomatic and 26 symptomatic individuals. Each participant had their FHL tendon excursion measured three times by two experienced musculoskeletal sonographers. Inter- and intra-observer reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results: The ICC shows excellent reliability of ultrasound-based measurement of FHL tendon excursion in asymptomatic and symptomatic adults with the intra-rater ICC of the two sonographers equalling 0.990 and 0.992 respectively and the inter-rate reliability showing an ICC of 0.942 in the measurement of the FHL tendon in both symptomatic and asymptomatic Adults.

Conclusion: Ultrasound-based measurement of FHL tendon excursion is an excellent and reliable method for assessing FHL tendon excursion in both asymptomatic and symptomatic adults. The FHL tendon excursion is significantly greater (6.60 mm) in asymptomatic adults compared to those with symptoms (4.82 mm). This can help in enhancing the diagnosis and treatment of foot and ankle conditions.

Keywords: Flexor Hallucis Longus Excursion; Sonographic Tendon Excursion; Muscle Kinematics in Ultrasound; Sonographic Flexor Hallucis Longus Displacement; Sonographic Measurement of Flexor Hallucis Longus Normal Movement

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Citation

Citation: Robert Wonink., et al. “Reliability of Ultrasound-Based Measurement of Flexor Hallucis Longus Tendon Excursion in Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Adults: A Comparison Study".Acta Scientific Orthopaedics 8.4 (2025): 18-29.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Robert Wonink., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.