A Meta-Analysis of Analgesic Effect of Ultrasound Therapy for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis.

To compare the efficacy of therapeutic ultrasound in pain relief and functional recovery in knee osteoarthritis. A comprehensive search of five databases including EMBASE, PubMed, CBM, the Cochrane Library, and Google scholar was conducted to identify relevant studies published between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2020. Eligible randomized trials were screened for inclusion in this study. Data about the mean change of visual analogue scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and range of motion (ROM) were collected. Fourteen randomized trials covering 1080 patients with treatment durations of 2 to 24 weeks were included. Both pulsed (SMD [CI] = 1.11 [0.86, 1.36], P for heterogeneity  1.5 W/cm2 ) ultrasound seemed more effective (SMD [CI] = 1.34 [0.94, 1.73], P for heterogeneity   1.5 W/cm2 ). However, more high-quality randomized controlled trials will be necessary.