Ultrasonography Applications in Traditional Korean Medicine Clinical Practice: A Scoping Review

Objectives: Recent trends in traditional Korean medicine (TKM) reflect increasing societal demands for objective diagnostic tools and scientific validation of treatment outcomes.To address the limitations of traditional methods, this study systematically examined the current use of ultrasonography in domestic TKM clinical practice and proposed strategies for future development.Methods: A scoping review was conducted using the PCC framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, analyzing domestic clinical studies where practitioners of traditional Korean medicine utilized ultrasonography, based on searches of Five Korean databases (KCI, RISS, DBpia, ScienceON, OASIS) up to May 16, 2025.Results: From 4,122 initially identified studies, 84 met inclusion criteria.The number of publications showed a continuous increase since 2001, peaking at 13 studies in 2024.Case-based studies dominated the study designs (69 studies), with most research conducted in Korean medicine hospitals (64 studies).By disease category, musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority (43 studies), followed by internal medicine (21 studies), gynecology (14 studies), and others (6 studies).Ultrasonography applications were primarily for post-treatment evaluation (51 studies), followed by diagnostic purposes (39 studies) and treatment guidance (33 studies).Musculoskeletal disorders showed balanced utilization of ultrasonography across diagnostic, therapeutic, and evaluative purpoes, whereas internal medicine and gynecology focused primarily on treatment evaluation.Conclusion: Ultrasonography has become systematically integrated across diagnostic, therapeutic, and evaluative phases in TKM practice.However, evidence remains limited to small-scale case reports, necessitating large-scale prospective studies to enhance evidence quality, development of standardized clinical protocols, and institutional support including the implementation of a insurance reimbursement system.