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Influence of recent exercise and skin temperature on ultrasound Doppler measurements in patients with rheumatoid arthritis - an intervention study
Rheumatology, 10/23/09

Ellegaard K et al. – Cooling of the hand should, if possible, be avoided before a USD examination of the wrist in patients with RA, because the amount of Doppler activity might be affected by low skin temperatures.

Methods

29 patients with RA underwent USD examination of wrist before and immediately after 3 interventions
Interventions carried out on 3 separate days
Interventions were (i) isometric exercise of muscles of the hand and forearm, (ii) heating and (iii) cooling of hand
Amount of Doppler in wrist joint was quantified by measuring percentage of colour in synovium—the colour fraction (CF)
CF values estimated before and after each intervention compared to see if intervention affected the amount of Doppler in synovium

Results

CF decreased significantly after cooling of hand
Despite being highly significant, numerical decrease in CF was only modest, 0.78–1.33 percentage points
Other interventions did not affect CF significantly, with P-values of 0.65 and 0.59 in heating intervention and 0.49 in exercise intervention