ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in repairing injured articular cartilage.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Ten adult New Zealand rabbits with bilateral full-thickness osteochondral defects on the cartilage surface of intercondylar fossas were used in this study. The wounds in the left knees were treated with low-intensity pulsed ultrasound as the experimental group. The right knees received no treatment as the control group. All the animals were killed at 8 weeks after injury and the tissues in the wounds were collected for gross appearance grading, histological grading and proteoglycan quantity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The scores of the gross appearance grades, histological grades and the optical density of toluidine blue of the tissues in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the controls at 8 weeks after injury (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound can accelerate the repair of injured articular cartilage.</p>