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Effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on muscle thickness and echo intensity of the elbow flexors following exercise-induced muscle damage

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of pulsed ultrasound on muscle thickness (MT) and echo intensity (EI) after strenuous exercise.

Methods

Forty healthy untrained male were randomized in either experimental group (n = 20) or placebo group (n = 20). Muscle thickness and EI of the dominant elbow flexors were collected at baseline (PRE), immediately post (0 h), 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after the protocol of damage induction. The protocol of damage induction was performed on an isokinetic dynamometer and consisted of four sets of ten repetitions of maximal eccentric and concentric contractions. The experimental group was treated with pulsed ultrasound (1:4, 1 MHz, 0.8 W/cm2, 23 min) at 0, 24, 48, and 72 h following the protocol of damage induction. The placebo group received the same time of application, but the equipment was kept turned off.

Results

The results demonstrated that MT and EI significantly increased at all time points after the exercise (p < 0.05). However, neither MT nor EI showed any significant difference between groups at any moment (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Pulsed ultrasound is ineffective in enhancing recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development for the scientific initiation scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise Laboratory Research, School of Physical Education, Physiotherapy, and Dance, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Felizardo 750, Jardim Botânico, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 90690-200, Brazil

    Diulian Muniz Medeiros, Rodrigo Freitas Mantovani & Cláudia Silveira Lima

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  1. Diulian Muniz Medeiros
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  2. Rodrigo Freitas Mantovani
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  3. Cláudia Silveira Lima
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Correspondence to Diulian Muniz Medeiros.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures of the present study were approved by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Review Board, and they were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Medeiros, D.M., Mantovani, R.F. & Lima, C.S. Effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on muscle thickness and echo intensity of the elbow flexors following exercise-induced muscle damage. Sport Sci Health 13, 365–371 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-017-0366-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-017-0366-5

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