ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Several therapeutic resources such as laser and isolated ultrasound combined with drugs and phonophoresis have been used in cases of inflammation and tendon repair, and the pulsed ultrasound is quite effective in chronic tendinitis.
Objective:
To analyze the efficacy of phonophoresis with the ethanol extract of the stem bark of Ximenia americana L. to manage the chronic inflammatory process in Rattus norvegicus.
Methods:
The sample consisted of 120 animals for analysis of the inflammatory response using edema, biomechanical strength, number of fibroblasts and histological analysis as variables.
Results:
On the 7th and 14th day, there was a significant difference between the group ultrasound with Ximenia americana L. gel and the ultrasound with placebo group (p<0.05) for edema reduction, increased maximum rupture strength, highly significant reduction of the maximum deformation (p<0.001), in addition to an increase in fibroblasts. In the histological analysis, there was improvement in the inflammatory process and acceleration of tendon repair with reduction of inflammatory cells and deposition of organized collagen with dense extracellular matrix.
Conclusion:
The pulsed ultrasound combined with gel of Ximenia americana L. is an effective therapy to manage the chronic inflammatory process.
Keywords:
phonophoresis; olacaceae; inflammation; achilles tendon
