Trial reportScientific reports2022
Efficacy and safety of focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound versus pulsed shortwave diathermy on knee osteoarthritis: a randomized comparative trial.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Randomized Controlled Trials Studying Nonoperative Treatments of Osteoarthritis Often Use Misleading and Uninformative Control Groups: A Systematic Review.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of three types of resistance training on knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of focused low intensity pulsed ultrasound in reducing lower-extremity swelling and pain after total knee arthroplasty: a randomized study.International orthopaedics · 2025Trial
- A deep neural network-enhanced multi-scale coupled model of patient-specific acoustic wave propagation for mechanotransduction stimulation of healthy and osteoarthritic knee articular cartilage.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2026Article
- Local hyperthermia therapy for the pain management of knee osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.EFORT open reviews · 2026Article
- Osteoarthritis: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment.MedComm · 2026Review
- LIPUS as a potential strategy for anti-inflammation and repair: A review of the mechanisms.International journal of medical sciences · 2026Review
- The Mechanism by Which Estrogen Level Affects Knee Osteoarthritis Pain in Perimenopause and Non-Pharmacological Measures.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Long Duration Ultrasound: Recent Advancements and Clinical Applications.International journal on physical medication & rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound delays the progression of osteoarthritis by regulating the YAP-RIPK1-NF-κB axis and influencing autophagy.Journal of translational medicine · 2024Article
- Focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound alleviates osteoarthritis via restoring impaired FUNDC1-mediated mitophagy.iScience · 2023Article
- The Efficacy of Electromagnetic Diathermy for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Intra-Articular Mesenchymal Stem Cell Injection for Knee Osteoarthritis: Mechanisms and Clinical Evidence.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (FLIPUS) with pulsed shortwave diathermy (PSWD) in subjects with painful knee osteoarthritis (OA). In a prospective randomized trial, 114 knee OA patients were randomly allocated to receive FLIPUS or PSWD therapy. The primary outcome was the change from baseline in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) total scores. Secondary outcomes included the numerical rating scale (NRS) for pain assessment, time up and go (TUG) test, active joint range of motion (ROM) test, and Global Rating of Change (GRC) scale. Data were collected at baseline, 12 days, 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Patients receiving FLIPUS therapy experienced significantly greater improvements in the WOMAC total scores than patients receiving PSWD therapy at 12 days (mean difference, - 10.50; 95% CI - 13.54 to - 7.45; P = 0.000). The results of the NRS, TUG test, ROM test and GRC scale showed that participants treated with FLIPUS reported less pain and better physical function and health status than those treated with PSWD at 12 days (P = 0.011, P = 0.005, P = 0.025, P = 0.011, respectively). Furthermore, patients in the FLIPUS group showed significant improvements in the WOMAC total scores and NRS scores at 12 weeks (mean difference, - 7.57; 95% CI - 10.87 to - 4.26; P = 0.000 and - 1.79; 95% CI - 2.11 to - 1.47, respectively) and 24 weeks (mean difference, - 6.96; 95% CI - 10.22 to - 3.71; P = 0.000 and - 1.37; 95% CI - 1.64 to - 0.96; P = 0.000, respectively) of follow-up. There were no adverse events during or after the interventions in either group. This study concluded that both FLIPUS and pulsed SWD are safe modalities, and FLIPUS was more effective than PSWD in alleviating pain and in improving dysfunction and health status among subjects with knee OA in the short term.Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000032735. Registered 08/05/2020, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=53413 .
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.