Abstract
Vascular complications in athletes are common and mimic musculoskeletal injuries such
as muscle sprains, fractures, and cartilage abnormalities. They include traumatic
vascular injuries and more subtle pathologies like entrapment syndromes, pseudoaneurysms,
arterial occlusions, and venous thrombosis. Such vascular complications may be occult
on imaging and can be difficult for a musculoskeletal radiologist to diagnose, resulting
in a lack of timely diagnosis and potentially limb-threatening consequences. Although
the final diagnosis may require multidisciplinary input from orthopaedic, sports and
exercise medicine, and vascular and interventional radiology inputs, a musculoskeletal
radiologist with prior knowledge of such conditions can be the first to diagnose such
conditions aiding the athlete's performance. A musculoskeletal radiologist should
pay due attention to anatomical courses of vascular channels and look for potential
causes of vascular compression, aberrant myotendinous bands, accessory muscles, etc.,
before concluding a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as
normal. Doppler ultrasound, CT, or MR angiography are commonly employed techniques
for primary evaluation, whereas digital subtraction angiography is generally reserved
for troubleshooting as advanced dynamic imaging.
Keywords
angiography - athletes - popliteal artery - popliteal vessels - sports injuries
