INTRODUCTION:
Despite controversial, ultrasonic therapy (UST) is commonly applied in sports rehabilitation practice to accelerate tissue repair after muscle damage. Muscle injuries have a negative influence on the mechanical properties of skeletal striated muscles and some scientific evidence shows that UST could have a positive effects on tissue repair and, therefore, on its mechanical properties.
OBJECTIVE:
To analyze the effect of UST on muscle repair by evaluation of the mechanical properties of rat muscles after cryolesion.
METHODS:
We used 30 adult Wistar rats which were divided into three groups: CG (control group), IG (injured group) and IGUST (injured plus UST) - (frequency of 1 MHz; intensity of 0.5 W/cm2; pulsed to 50%; four minutes daily) for seven consecutive days. The mechanical properties obtained through mechanical tests were evaluated in a universal testing machine.
RESULTS:
Data were statistically analyzed with a significance level of 95% (p<0.05). After seven treatment sessions, we found significant improvement in the mechanical properties of load at the proportionality limit, load at maximum limit and resilience in IGUST compared to IG (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION:
The UST was effective in the tissue repair process, giving higher tensile strength and energy absorption to the muscle tissue.
ultrasonic therapy; muscle; skeletal; biomechanics
