| Author: | Ng, Christine Oi-yee |
| Title: | Effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound on the biomechanical and functional improvements of repairing achilles tendon : a rat model |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2003 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations Achilles tendon -- Wounds and injuries -- Treatment Ultrasonics in medicine |
| Department: | Multi-disciplinary Studies Department of Rehabilitation Sciences |
| Pages: | xii, 84 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on the structural properties and functional performance of Achilles tendon healing. Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats with surgically hemi-transected Achilles tendons were studied. At 5 days after injury, the rats were divided into 3 groups. Ten were treated daily with continuous ultrasound at 1.0 Wcm-2 for 4 minutes, 11 were treated at 2.0 Wcm-2 for 4 minutes, and 9 served as controls without treatment. For all animals, a functional test of Achilles Functional Index (AFI) was performed preoperatively and on post-operative days 3,10, and 30. On day 30, the rats were sacrificed and the medial portion of their Achilles tendons were tested for viscoelastic load-relaxation, structural stiffness and ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The data of AFI was analyzed with 2-way repeated measures ANOVA, whereas the load-relaxation, structural stiffness and UTS were analyzed with MANOVA with a at 0.05. The results showed that two specimens from the control group failed in the viscoelastic load-relaxation testing, whereas one specimen of low and high dose ultrasound groups failed prematurely during UTS testing respectively. Therefore, the results of these animals were excluded. It was shown that the UTS of rats treated at both low (p=0.023) and high (p=0.002) doses was significantly higher than that of the controls. No significant differences in AFI (p=0.l57), viscoelastic load-relaxation (p=0.205) or stiffness (p=0.842) were found among groups. Findings of this study show that both low and high dose therapeutic ultrasound are beneficial for the healing process of ruptured tendons. Repairing tendons of all animals show improvements on the structural strength on day 30, and no significant differences in AFI among groups might be due to the achievement of submaximal strength on repairing tendons. The present study signifies the beneficial effects of therapeutic ultrasound and provides a scientific background for future clinical studies. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b17147323.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 4.41 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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