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Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound (LITUS) on wound healing in rats with third-degree burns., Methods: Twenty rats were divided into the Control Group that comprised four rats without third-degree burns that did not undergo LITUS, the Burned Group (BG), comprising eight rats with third-degree burns that did not undergo LITUS, and the Burned with Treatment Group (BTG), comprising eight rats with third-degree burns that were administered LITUS. LITUS began 24 h after injury and involved daily applications for 8 min at 0.1 W/cm2 for 14 days., Results: The BTG lost less weight than the BG (Q=2.75; p<0.05). No visible differences were apparent among the groups' lesions on day 4. By the end of treatment, wound healing was more evident in the BTG. No statistically significant differences were found between the BG and the BTG in relation to the parameters measured using the histological changes in burn wound healing scoring system., Conclusion: The LITUS protocol applied to the animals with third-degree burns accelerated the formation of fibrin-leukocyte crusts and significantly reduced weight loss. However, burn wound healing was not accelerated.

Purpose: To propose a novel model of pseudarthrosis in a small animal and to investigate the ability of backscatter parameters from ultrasound signals in differentiating normal bone from those ones with pseudarthrosis., Methods: Twelve Rattus norvegicus albinus free from pathogenic species (SPF) were randomly divided in two groups, with six animals each. In the Control group a surgical approach to the femur was made, followed by the synthesis of the muscle and skin layers. The Experimental group was submitted to an osteotomy of the femur and a vascularized flap of the fascia lata was interposed in the line of the fractured bone. Then the alignment and bone stabilization were accomplished, by using nylon stitch in U shape introduced in holes made in the proximal and distal fractured bone. Bone samples were scanned with ultrasound and signals were collected for each one to analyze the parameter Apparent Integrated Backscatter - AIB., Results: Radiological and anatomopathologic studies revealed the absence of bone consolidation with persistence of fiber-osteoid tissue. Values of the ultrasound parameter AIB from normal bones were statistically different from those with pseudarthrosis., Conclusion: The experimental model was suitable for pseudarthrosis development in rats and the ultrasound backscatter parameters were able to identify such a bone disease in vitro.