Ultrasound Imaging of the Trapeziometacarpal Articular Cavity to Investigate the Presence of Intraarticular Gas Bubbles After Chiropractic Manipulation

The findings of this study suggest that synovial fluid may contain intraarticular microcavities even before a manipulation is performed. Numerous large intraarticular gas bubbles are formed during manipulation due to cavitation of the synovial fluid and were observed in the absence of an axial distractive load at the time of imaging. In most cases, these gas bubbles remained within the joint for longer than 20 minutes.