APPLICATION OF THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND IN KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS

Knee osteoarthritis is a leading cause of pain and disability, and therapeutic ultrasound is a widely used electrophysical agent for its conservative manThis integrative review searched PubMed, SciELO, Google Scholar and PEDro for randomized controlled trials published between 2020 and 2026 on continuous, low-intensity pulsed (LIPUS), phonophoretic and focused therapeutic ultrasound in men and women aged 20 to 70 years with knee osteoarthritis; the earliest eligible trial was published in 2022, with most published between 2024 and 2026. Two additional randomized crossover trials conducted in healthy volunteers were analyzed separately, as mechanistic rather than clinical evidence.Pain reduction and functional improvement (WOMAC, Lequesne index) were the most frequently reported outcomes, and combining ultrasound with therapeutic exercise produced greater gains than ultrasound alone. However, most included trials administered ultrasound as part of multimodal protocols, which limits conclusions about its independent effect; parameter heterogeneity and the absence of a formal risk-of-bias assessment further constrain the strength of the evidence.