Fig. 3

Pathological sonographic findings of the bone tissue. The comparative sonographic assessment shows a continued hyperechoic cortical bone of the patella (Pat) with a tensioned patellar ligament (white arrowhead) on the healthy side (A); instead, cortical defect (white asterisk) of the patella (Pat), diastasis of bony fragments (white arrows), and deformation of the patellar ligament (yellow arrowhead) are clearly visible in the post-traumatic knee (B). Of note, the disruption of the bony cortex allows the US beam to partially penetrate within the bone tissue generating an echoic wedge (void arrowhead) (B)