This study aims to determine the association between the blood flow velocity in the AHCA and pain in patients with FS.
Twenty patients with FS were included in the study. The affected AHCA measurements of the subjects were identified in color Doppler mode using an ultrasound imaging system with a 12 MHz linear probe. The peak systolic velocity (PSV) of the AHCA was measured using pulsed Doppler mode. Rest and night pain were assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Statistical analysis examined the correlation between the blood flow velocity in AHCA and VAS scores using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. To calculate the cut-off values for rest and night pain in patients with FS, ROC analysis was performed, defining the pain group as those with a VAS of 30 mm or more and the no-pain group as those with a VAS of 30 mm or less. The calculated items included cut-off value, area under the curve (AUC), and 95% confidence interval (CI).
The correlation between the blood flow velocity in AHCA and rest pain was, a significant moderate positive correlation (r = 0.59, p = 0.006). The correlation between the blood flow velocity in AHCA and night pain was also a significant moderate positive correlation (r = 0.76, p 0.001). The cut-off values for the blood flow velocity in AHCA were 13.4 cm/s (AUC: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.79–1.00) for resting pain and 13.4 cm/s (AUC: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.82–1.00) for night pain.
The mechanisms underlying increased the blood flow velocity have been linked to blood supply to abnormal vessels and synovitis, which may reflect the pathogenesis of synovitis and angiogenesis in FS.
The use of the blood flow velocity in AHCA as an aid in physiotherapy assessment would enable physiotherapy for FS to be based on objective indicators.
Ultrasonography
AHCA
