Before Holly Krieg saw Dr. Alan Hirahara, MD, FRCSC, she suffered through painful cortisone shots delivered by a different orthopedic surgeon.
He just shoved a needle directly into my knee cap and I was in excruciating pain,” says Holly of prior procedures. “It didn’t alleviate any pain. Then I went to see Dr. Hirahara and he has put me on the right path to pain relief.”
Dr. Hirahara has been using ultrasound for procedure guidance for more than 10 years. He has been a Clarius user and a member of our advisory board since we introduced our first wireless handheld ultrasound system in 2016.
Watch the following two-minute video to see him perform an intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection using the Clarius L15 HD to bring pain relief to Holly who has been suffering from degenerative joint disease in her knees.
Dr. Hirahara describes how difficult this procedure would have been to perform successfully without ultrasound guidance.
There is very little joint fluid within the space there, and it would be very hard to potentially hit if we were doing this blindly. So obviously, we don’t want to hit the bone, we don’t want to hit the cartilage and we definitely don’t want to get into that tendon or that could be very painful.”
Under ultrasound guidance, Dr. Hirahara successfully injected the target space measuring less than one millimeter and performed a completely painless procedure.
More from Holly
We had a chance to interview Holly about her experience with Dr. Hirahara following her procedure. Watch her 3-minute interview to see why she will now only see Dr. Hirahara exclusively.
It was a relief for me, because I knew that I wouldn’t experience the pain that I had when I had my original shots,” says Holly. “With the ultrasound itself, I have felt more at ease with the doctor and the procedure. Just having that piece of mind that he is actually looking for a good way to go in has helped me come back to get these shots.”
About Dr. Hirahara
Dr. Alan M Hirahara, MD, FRCSC, is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in arthroscopic shoulder surgery and sports medicine. He runs a busy private practice in Sacramento, California.
Dr. Hirahara recently presented a one-hour webinar on using ultrasound for accurate and painless MSK injections. Watch his webinar to learn more about his techniques for painless injections that deliver maximum relief.
Handheld Ultrasound for Orthopedic Surgery
Visit our orthopaedic surgery specialty page or contact us for to learn more about adding handheld ultrasound to your practice.
