Application of shortwave diathermy to lower limb increases arterial blood flow velocity and skin temperature in women: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Shortwave diathermy (SWD) and microwave diathermy (MWD) are frequently used by physical therapists to treat musculoskeletal conditions. The therapeutic benefits are usually associated with an increase in tissue temperature; however, there is no consensus on the changes in blood flow. OBJECTIVES: 1) To evaluate the behavior of temperature and arterial blood flow after the application of SWD and MWD to the lower limb of healthy women aged 18-30 and 2) to assess whether changes in limb positioning can influence SWD response. METHOD: Among the subjects analyzed, 40 women were eligible to participate in the trial and were randomly allocated to the SWD group or the MWD group. Each group received 20min of diathermy. After receiving the interventions, all patients crossed over to the other group, but the devices were detuned (sham). SWD was applied to the posterior compartment of the thigh and leg, with the knee in 0° and 90° of flexion, and the MWD applied to the posterior thigh. Skin temperature evaluation (digital infrared thermography) and assessment of blood flow velocity (Doppler ultrasound) were performed immediately before and 10 and 20min after the application. RESULTS: Arterial blood flow increased after SWD diathermy (vs. Sham), but not after MWD diathermy. SWD promoted skin heating at the end of therapy in all areas analyzed, remaining above baseline even 20min after the end of the application. MWD diathermy promoted skin heating in the posterior thigh, reflecting a rise in the temperature of the popliteal fossa area that remained for 10min after the end of the application. CONCLUSION: The increase in arterial blood flow velocity depends on the size of the heating area, since it was only observed in the application of the SWD. However, after 20min of application, the position of the lower leg did not affect the heating.

Combination of therapeutic ultrasound with antibiotics interfere with the growth of bacterial culture that colonizes skin ulcers: An in-vitro study.

Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli are among the major bacterial species that colonize skin ulcers. Therapeutic ultrasound (TUS) produces biophysical effects that are relevant to wound healing; however, its application over a contaminated injury is not evidence-based. The objective of this research was to analyze the effect of TUS on in vitro-isolated S. aureus and E. coli, including the combination of ultrasound and antibiotics, in order to assess their antibiotic action on bacterial susceptibility. For the experiments, the bacterial strains were suspended in saline, then diluted (10(4)CFU/mL) for irradiation (at 1 and 3MHz, 0.5 and 0.8W/cm(2) for 0 and 15min) and the combination treatment of ultrasonication and antibiotics was administered by adding nalidixic acid (S. aureus) and tetracycline (E. coli) at concentrations equivalent to 50% of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The experiments were carried out in duplicate with six repetitions. The suspensions were inoculated on to Petri plates and incubated at 37°C and the colony forming units (CFUs) were counted after 24h. The results were subjected to the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, followed by parametric ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test at a significance level of 1%. The results demonstrated that the action of TUS at 1MHz inhibited bacterial growth while at 3MHz, bacterial growth was observed in both species. However, the synergistic combination of ultrasound and antibiotics was able to inhibit the growth of both bacteria completely after 15min of ultrasonication. The results suggest that the action of ultrasound on S. aureus and E. coli are dependent on the oscillation frequency as well as the intensity and time of application. The combination of ultrasound with antibiotics was able to inhibit bacterial growth fully at all frequencies and doses in both species.

Influência do laser arseneto de gálio-alumínio em feridas cutâneas de ratos / Influence of gallium-aluminum arsenide laser in the cutaneous wounds in wistar rats

Objetivo: O presente estudo avaliou o efeito do laser arseneto de gálio-alumínio (GaAsAl) 830nm(30j/cm²) e da pomada Dersani® no processo cicatricial cutâneo de ratos wistar, em relação à proliferação fibroblástica e revascularização. Material e métodos: Foram utilizados 18 ratos wistar adultos jovens, machos, com peso médio de 324 g, provenientes do Biotério do Centro de Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal de Viçosa. Foram feitas cinco feridas de 12 mm no dorso dos animais utilizando bisturi. Os animais foram divididos aleatoriamente em três grupos, cada grupo com seis animais: Grupo 1: Controle - os animais tiveram a ferida tratada com salina, Grupo 2:Feridas tratados com laser GaAsAl (830nm) 30J/cm² e Grupo 3: Feridas tratadas com Dersani®. As aplicações foram feitas diariamente durante 20 dias de experimento. O material para análise histológica foi corado com hematoxilina-eosina (HE), fotografados e analisados por meio do programa Image Pro-plus®, por contagem de pontos sob células de interesse. Resultados: Foi observado maior número de fibroblastos nos grupos tratados com o laser GaAsAl e com a pomada Dersani®, quando comparados ao controle no quarto dia do experimento. No entanto, no oitavo dia o grupo tratado com laser apresentou um número significativamente menor de fibroblastos, quando comparado ao controle e ao Dersani®. Em relação à revascularização foi observada diferença significativa entre o laser e o Dersani® no oitavo dia de experimento, em que o Dersani® se mostrou mais efetivo na formação de vasos sanguíneos. Conclusão: O grupo tratado com o laser GaAsAl no quarto dia aumentou significativamente a quantidade de fibroblastos quando comparado ao controle.

Objective: The present work evaluates the effect of the gallium-aluminum arsenide (GaAsAl) (30j/cm²) laser and ointment DersaniTM, on the cutaneous cicatricial process the wistar rats, in respect of fibroblast proliferation and revascularization. Materials and methods: The study made use of 18 wistar rats, young adults, males, with medium weight of 324 g, from the animal house of Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (Health and Biological Sciences Center) of Universidade Federal de Viçosa, MG, Brazil. Five 12 mm wounds were made in the dorsal region of the rats using scalpel blades. Animals were separated in 3 groups, each one with six animals. Group 1: Control - Animals had the wound treated with saline; Group 2: Wound treated with GaAsAl (30J/cm²) laser; and Group 3: wound treated with DersaniTM. The applications were made daily during 20 days of experiment. The material for histological analyses was stained with hematoxilin-eosin (HE), photographed and analyzed using the program Image Pro-plusTM through enumeration of points under the cells of interest. Results: It was observed an increase in the number of fibroblasts in the groups treated with GaAsAl 30J/cm² and with DersaniTM ointment when compared to controls in the fourth day of experiment. However, in the eighth day the group treated with laser presented a significant reduced number of fibroblasts when compared to control and DersaniTM groups. In relation to revascularization, significant differences between laser and DersaniTM were observed in the eighth day of the experiment, where to DersaniTM showed to be more effective in the formation of blood vessels. Conclusion: The group GaAsAl laser on the fourth day, there was a significantly greater quantity of fibroblasts compared to control group.