title: Efficacy of therapeutic ultrasound in pain and joint mobility in whiplash traumatic acute and subacute phases.
abstract: To determine if ultrasound (US) is effective in reducing pain and mobility limitation in the treatment of traumatic cervical sprain, we performed an experimental study. The sample comprised 54 diagnosed subjects with a mean age of 36.54 y (standard deviation = 12.245), assigned by simple random selection to an experimental group with ultrasound treatment and a control group with placebo ultrasound. Treatment consisted of 10 sessions of an ultrasound treatment protocol, followed by 15 sessions of a protocol identical for both groups without ultrasound. The variables assessed were pain and joint mobility. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between groups in the first 10 sessions of treatment. However, there was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between groups on the pain variable, 20 days after completion of the US. High-active ultrasound treatment is more effective than placebo in reducing pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Physical Therapy, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain. Electronic address: carmen.ruizmolinero@uca.es.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Molinero
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Jesus
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jimenez-Rejano
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chillon-Martinez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suarez-Serrano
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rebollo-Roldan
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Physical Therapy, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perez-Cabezas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D014911:Whiplash Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mobility limitation; Pain; Ultrasonic therapy; Whiplash injuries