Therapeutic ultrasound for acute ankle sprains
PainSci summary of van den Bekerom 2011?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible. ★★★☆☆?3-star ratings are for typical studies with no more (or less) than the usual common problems. Ratings are a highly subjective opinion, and subject to revision at any time. If you think this paper has been incorrectly rated, please let me know.
An inconclusive but discouraging review of “five small placebo-controlled trials” of therapeutic ultrasound for ankle sprains; the authors reckon the “potential treatment effects of ultrasound appear to be generally small and of probably of limited clinical importance.”
original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The evidence from the five small placebo-controlled trials included in this review does not support the use of ultrasound in the treatment of acute ankle sprains. The potential treatment effects of ultrasound appear to be generally small and of probably of limited clinical importance, especially in the context of the usually short-term recovery period for these injuries. However, the available evidence is insufficient to rule out the possibility that there is an optimal dosage schedule for ultrasound therapy that may be of benefit.
related content
- “The effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound for musculoskeletal conditions of the lower limb: A literature review,” an article in Foot (Edinb), 2010.
- “Therapeutic ultrasound for osteoarthritis of the knee or hip,” an article in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2010.
- “Effect of therapeutic ultrasound on tendons,” an article in Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2011.
- “Therapeutic ultrasound for carpal tunnel syndrome,” an article in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2013.
- “Therapeutic ultrasound for chronic low-back pain,” an article in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2014.
- “The efficacy of therapeutic ultrasound for rotator cuff tendinopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” an article in Physical Therapy in Sport, 2015.
One article on PainScience.com cites van den Bekerom 2011 as a source:
- PS Does Ultrasound Therapy Work? — Many concerns about the widespread usage of therapeutic ultrasound, especially extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT)
