[Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in chronic Achilles tendinopathy]

Abstract

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has shown promising results in treating epicondylitis lateralis humeri and fasciitis plantaris. This study investigates whether the evidence supports ESWT as part of the conservative treatment regime of chronic Achilles tendinopathy. The differences in diagnosing chronic Achilles tendinopathy, the use of different ESWT-machines and the difference in the evaluating methods for pain make it difficult to compare the studies. There is, however, a clear tendency toward ESWT having a positive treatment effect on chronic Achilles tendinopathy at both the insertion and the mid-portion.