The Use Of Therapeutic Ultrasound ( Us ) - 2688 Words

Introduction Physical therapist clinicians select, prescribe, and implement use of physical agents for a number of therapeutically beneficial reasons.1 According to Cameron,2 physical agents are defined as energy or materials physically applied to patients to assist in rehabilitation. They include heat, cold, water, pressure, sound, electromagnetic radiation, and electrical currents. This study will focus on the use of therapeutic ultrasound (US) to treat osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Therapeutic US is regularly used passively by physical therapist clinicians3 to treat knee OA, but its use lacks substantial evidence of positive therapeutic effect in people with knee OA.4-6 Ultrasound US is a sound wave with a frequency of greater than†¦show more content†¦The knee has the highest prevalence of OA of all of the joints in the human body. Knee OA regularly causes people to experience troubling pain and/or loss of physical function to varying degrees,5 and often results in total knee arthroplasty8 after years of distress and economic burden to the patient and society.9 During 2005 in Ontario, Canada, knee OA costs for an individual averaged $12,200 annually, including personal expenses as well as lost wages.10 It is estimated that as the world’s population ages and as the obesity epidemic grows, the burden of OA on the healthcare system, and therefore the economy, will continue to increase, barring improvements in knee OA management.8 Choosing Wisely Therapeutic US is regularly used by physical therapist clinicians3 to treat knee OA, 4-6 although its use lacks substantial evidence of positive therapeutic effect in people with knee OA.4-6 In September 2014, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) released a list of recommendations titled â€Å"Choosing Wisely: five things physical therapists and patients should question†11 (Choosing Wisely) recommending that physical therapists should not