Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the effects and safety of therapeutic ultrasound in patients with neck
pain.
Data Sources
The PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and Physiotherapy Evidence databases were searched for
articles published before December 1, 2020.
Study Selection
Randomized controlled trials that compared the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on
neck pain were included in this review. The included studies compared therapeutic
ultrasound plus other treatments with the other treatments alone or compared therapeutic
ultrasound with sham or no treatment. Outcome measures involved the effects on pain,
disability, and quality of life. Other treatments included all nonultrasonic therapies
(eg, various exercises, massage, electrotherapy).
Data Extraction
Data on the study population, therapeutic ultrasound intervention, combined intervention,
outcome measures, and follow-up were extracted.
Data Synthesis
Twelve randomized controlled trials (705 patients) fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
Seven studies compared therapeutic ultrasound plus other treatments vs the other treatments
alone (449 patients). Therapeutic ultrasound yielded additional benefits for pain,
but there was high heterogeneity and we could not draw a clear conclusion. Ultrasound
did not have a better effect on disability or quality of life when it was combined
with other treatments. Five studies compared therapeutic ultrasound with sham or no
treatment (256 patients), and the pooled data showed that therapeutic ultrasound significantly
reduced pain intensity. No adverse events of therapeutic ultrasound were reported
in the included studies.
Conclusions
Therapeutic ultrasound may reduce the intensity of pain more than sham or no treatment,
and it is a safe treatment. Whether therapeutic ultrasound in combination with other
conventional treatments produced additional benefits on pain intensity, disability,
or quality of life is not clear. The randomized trials included in this review had
different levels of quality and high heterogeneity. A large trial using a valid methodology
is warranted.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation), MPS (myofascial pain syndrome), MTrP (myofascial trigger point), NDI (neck disability index), NHP (Nottingham health profile), NRS (numerical rating scale), PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), QoL (quality of life), RCT (randomized controlled trial), SMD (standardized mean difference), VAS (visual analog scale)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 12, 2021
Accepted:
February 2,
2021
Received in revised form:
December 18,
2020
Received:
September 13,
2020
Footnotes
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81572231) and the Project of the Science and Technology Department in Sichuan province (grant no. 2019YJ0119).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
