Paediatricians at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust in Reading are using SonoSite’s NanoMaxx hand-carried ultrasound system to perform intramuscular injections for the relief of spasticity in children with cerebral palsy.
Dr Rosalind Jefferson, consultant paediatrician at the trust, said: “We have been interested in ultrasound needle guidance for the focal treatment of spasticity in children since 2005, as this improves accuracy and reliability in administering botulinum toxin injections.
“Children with cerebral palsy may have quite ‘thin’ muscles, making it very easy to inject too deeply using palpation alone. The use of ultrasound to guide these injections is highly beneficial, particularly for the upper limbs, where the muscles are not easily identified without ultrasound or EMG. Ultrasound is also much less uncomfortable for the children than EMG.”
Clinicians originally borrowed a portable ultrasound system from the neonatal unit for this service, but the instrument was only available intermittently, and so they wanted their own system.
“The NanoMaxx combined the image quality we required with exceptional ease of use, providing clear images with very few adjustments thanks to the one touch optimisation feature,” said Dr Jefferson.
“We have two linear transducers – including one designed specifically for imaging small parts, such as the muscles around the thumb – giving us the flexibility to perform a wide range of injections quickly and efficiently.”
