RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evaluation of Sustained Acoustic Medicine for Treating Musculoskeletal Injuries in Military and Sports Medicine
Rod Walters1, John Kasik2, Cassie Ettel3, Ralph Ortiz4, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187432502211210
Publisher ID: e187432502211210
DOI: 10.2174/18743250-v16-e221130-2022-8
Article History:
Received Date: 13/7/2022Revision Received Date: 9/9/2022
Acceptance Date: 19/10/2022
Electronic publication date: 28/12/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Musculoskeletal injuries are common in collegiate, professional, and military personnel and require expedited recovery to reduce lost work time. Sustained acoustic medicine (SAM) provides continuous long-duration ultrasound at 3MHz and 132mW/cm2. The treatment is frequently prescribed to treat acute and chronic soft tissue injuries and reduce pain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of SAM treatment for musculoskeletal injuries and accelerated recovery.
Methods:
An 18-question electronic survey and panel discussion were conducted on Athletic Trainers (ATs) using SAM treatment in professional, collegiate, and military sports medicine. The survey included both qualitative and quantitative questions. In addition, a panel discussion discussed SAM effectiveness with expert ATs. Power calculation of sampling and statistical evaluation of data was utilized to generalize the results.
Results:
Survey respondents (n=97) and panelists (n=142) included ATs from all National Athletic Trainers Association districts. SAM was primarily used for musculoskeletal injuries (83.9%, p<0.001) with a focus on healing tendons and ligaments (87.3%, p<0.001). SAM treatment was also used on joints (44.8%), large muscle groups (43.7%), and bone (41.4%). SAM provided clinical improvement in under 2 weeks (68.9%, p<0.001) and a 50% reduction in pain medication (63%, p<0.001). In addition, patients were highly receptive to treatment (87.3%, p<0.001), and ATs had a high level of confidence for improved function and returned to work after 30-days of SAM use (81.2%, p<0.001).
Conclusion:
SAM is an effective, safe, easy-to-use, noninvasive, comfortable, and versatile therapeutic for healing musculoskeletal injuries.
