Morphometry of thenar muscles by water bath ultrasonography in trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis: intra- and inter-rater reliability.

We studied the intra- and inter-rater reliability of muscle thickness and cross-sectional area measurements of thenar muscles with a water bath ultrasonography technique in eight healthy volunteers and 16 patients with trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis. Thickness and cross-sectional area of the opponens pollicis, abductor pollicis brevis, flexor pollicis brevis, first dorsal interosseous and adductor pollicis muscle were measured. The results showed changes in the morphometric properties of the thenar muscles in patients with trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis (TMC OA) compared with the healthy volunteers.