Efficacy of ultrasound in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee

Objective: To investigate the effect of ultrasound in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Methods: Eighty‐seven out‐ and in‐patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (15 men and 72 women) underwent ultrasonic therapy from February to October 2010. The patients were randomly assigned to an ultrasound group (Group A) and a placebo group (Group B). Group A was offered ultrasonic therapy while Group B underwent mock treatment. The visual analogue scale (VAS) and Lequesne scores of the two groups before and after treatment were compared. The data were analyzed by normal distribution, Student's t‐test and the rank sum test. The means during and after treatment of the VAS and Lequesne efficacy index of the treatment group were calculated and plotted on a bar graph. Results: Single sample analysis of Groups A and B showed VAS efficacy index: mean = 0.3640, P= 0.000; Lequesne efficacy index, median = 0.3080, P= 0.000, and mean = 0.1000, P= 0.000; Lequesne efficacy index, mean = 0.0364, P= 0.024, respectively. Independent samples t test and rank sum test showed significant differences between the two groups, namely P= 0.000 for both the VAS and Lequesne curative effect indexes. The means of the VAS efficacy index of the treatment group increased during and after treatment. The means of the Lequesne efficacy index of the treatment group showed no apparent decrease by 28 days after treatment. Conclusion: Ultrasound treatment significantly alleviates joint symptoms, relieving joint swelling, increasing joint mobility and reducing inflammation, in osteoarthritis patients.