Immediate Effects of Therapeutic Ultrasound on Quadriceps Spinal Reflex Excitability in Patients With Knee Injury

This report has been verified by one or more authors of the original publication.

30 patients with persistent muscle weakness following an intra-articular knee injury were randomized to either receive non-thermal ultrasound or sham treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine if ultrasound treatment improved quadricep motoneuron pool excitability as measured by Hoffman reflex (H/M ratio). Results showed no immediate change to H/M ratio following treatment, but significantly greater H/M ratio was observed in the ultrasound group compared to the sham group at 20min post-intervention. Compared to baseline, the ultrasound group showed a low-magnitude improvement in H/M ratio while the sham group showed a low-magnitude decline in H/M ratio at 20 minutes after treatment.