Specialty Development
Tzu-Ting Lin, MD
doctor
ChiMei Hospital
Tainan, Tainan, Taiwan (Republic of China)
Hsin-Te Lin, MD
Attending Physiatrist
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chi Mei Medical Center
Tainan, Tainan, Taiwan (Republic of China)
Daniel Chiung-Jui Su, MD
Attending Physician
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chi Mei Medical Center
Tainan, Tainan, Taiwan (Republic of China)
Performance-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) are prevalent among woodwind musicians, including bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, and saxophone players. These instrumentalists are particularly vulnerable because their performance demands repetitive, fine-motor, and high-intensity practice, often coupled with prolonged static postures. Although woodwind players frequently report symptoms such as shortened playing endurance, air leakage during performance, perioral pain, involuntary hand movements, shoulder and neck discomfort, and reduced dexterity in finger control, the underlying tissue-level pathologies remain insufficiently characterized. This study focuses on evaluating ultrasound findings in woodwind musicians with PRMDs and discusses the clinical implications of these imaging features.
Design:
This retrospective case series study, conducted at a musician clinic of a tertiary medical center from January 2019 to September 2023, included woodwind players diagnosed with PRMDs. Exclusion criteria included traumatic accidents, hereditary and rheumatological conditions. Data collected included demographics, PRMD severity, discomfort localization, ultrasound imaging findings.
Results: A total of 72 woodwind musicians were enrolled in the study, including 8 bassoon, 23 clarinet, 21 flute, 7 oboe, and 13 saxophone players. Frequently reported regions of discomfort involved the shoulders and neck, forearm, wrist, fingers, perioral musculature, and temporomandibular joint. Ultrasonography most commonly identified abnormalities in the right fingers flexors in the level of hand or forearm and the levator angulus oris and depressor anguli oris, modiolus, buccinator, representing the predominant symptomatic sites among these performers.
Conclusion:
This study provides the ultrasound-based analysis of PRMDs in woodwind musicians. Key lesions were identified in the right fingers flexors and the levator angulus oris, depressor anguli oris, modiolus, buccinator.
