ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Imaging
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Veterinary 3D Modeling: Applications of CT, MRI, and Scanning TechnologiesView all 13 articles
Dynamic Muscle Damage Monitoring in Pig Crush Injury: T2-Weighted Dixon and 2D Ultrasound Applications
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- 2The Fourth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, China
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Background: Crush injury (CI) involves compressive trauma causing muscle swelling, compartment syndrome, and neurological damage. We examined T2-Dixon and ultrasound for CI evaluation in pigs, integrating imaging with lab and tissue findings. Methods: Twelve 15–16-month-old Bama miniature pigs were randomly divided into three extrusion groups: Group A (4h), Group B (8h), and Group C (16h), using custom equipment. Blood samples were collected at baseline (T0), decompression (T1), and 12h (T2), 24h (T3), and 72h (T4) post-decompression. MRI and ultrasound were performed at each time point. At T4, pigs were euthanized, and compressed muscles underwent HE staining for pathological assessment. Results: Following decompression, Creatine Kinase (CK), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and K⁺ levels initially rose, then declined across all groups. CK peaked at T2 or T3 (p < 0.05), with Group B > Group A at T3/T4, and Group C > Group A at T1–T3 (p < 0.05). LDH peaked at T2/T3, with Groups B and C > Group A (p < 0.05). K⁺ peaked at T1/T2, with Group C showing a significant increase (p < 0.05) but no difference between Groups A and B. T2-weighted signal values rose then fell in Groups A/B but increased continuously in Group C, peaking at T2/T3 (p < 0.05). Group B > Group A at T2/T3; Group C > Group A at T1–T3 and > Group B at T3 (p < 0.05). CK and LDH correlated positively with T2 signal values (strongest in Group C), while K⁺ showed no correlation. Ultrasound revealed mildly enhanced echogenicity and structural disorganization in Group A. Groups B and C showed more severe damage, featuring a homogeneous, featureless appearance with complete loss of normal muscle architecture and heterogeneous echogenicity with sieve-like hypoechogenicity and fat layer edema, respectively. HE staining at T4 demonstrated progressively worse muscle damage with longer extrusion times. Conclusions: This study confirmed the viability of the CI model through biochemical verification and demonstrated that T2-Dixon and ultrasound synergistically assessed muscle damage, providing a more thorough evaluation that surpasses the constraints of biochemical markers alone.
Keywords: Crush injury, Muscle damage assessment, porcine model, T2-weighted Dixon, Ultrasonography
Received: 25 Aug 2025; Accepted: 12 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Wang, Wang, Li, Wang, Zhao, Chen, Lv and Fan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qi Lv
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