Measurement of tibial torsion by ultrasound.

A method of measuring tibial torsion with ultrasound, using reference lines on the tibia, was developed and tested on dry adult tibiae. This technique was used for evaluation of a group of children with apparently normal tibiae and another group of children with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, or clubfoot. The study showed that it is possible to measure true tibial torsion (rather than tibiofibular torsion) with ultrasound. The technique was found to be reliable and accurate enough for routine clinical use and had advantages over clinical methods and other radiographic imaging techniques. Values obtained by this technique are higher than those obtained by methods using the bimalleolar axis as the distal reference line.