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. 2017 Dec 6;18(1):513.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-017-1873-x.

Individualised radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) for symptomatic calcific shoulder tendinopathy: a retrospective clinical study

Nikolaos Malliaropoulos  1   2   3   4   5 , Dawn Thompson  6 , Maria Meke  1   2 , Debasish Pyne  4   5 , Dimosthenis Alaseirlis  2   7 , Henry Atkinson  8   9 , Vasileios Korakakis  10   11   12 , Heinz Lohrer  13   14
Affiliations

Individualised radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) for symptomatic calcific shoulder tendinopathy: a retrospective clinical study

Nikolaos Malliaropoulos et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: A retrospective single centre cohort analysis was performed to evaluate an individualised radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) protocol for treatment of symptomatic calcific shoulder tendinopathy.

Methods: 67 patients (79 Shoulders) were identified with 76 shoulders included for analysis. rESWT treatment protocol was adapted according to individual response to treatment. Variables included number of sessions, shockwave impulses, pressure and frequency. Success rate was estimated as the percentage of patients having ≥60% visual analogue score (VAS) pain decrease at follow-up. Recurrence at 1 year was recorded.

Results: Using this individualised symptom guided protocol, patients underwent a mean of 7 ± 1.5 rESWT sessions, with mean pressure of 1.7 ± 0.2 bar, mean frequency of 5 ± 0.3 Hz and 2175 ± 266 impulses. The mean pre-treatment VAS score of 6.7 ± 1.1 was significantly decreased to 3.2 ± 0.8 immediately post-treatment, 2.6 ± 0.9 at 1 month, 1.7 ± 1.0 at 3 months and 0.8 ± 1.0 at 1 year follow up (α = 0.05). One-year success rate was estimated at 92% and 1-year recurrence rate was 7%.

Conclusions: We conclude that in this retrospective study an individualised rESWT protocol resulted in a high success rate with low number of recurrences. Randomised controlled trials to support these findings are recommended.

Keywords: ESWT; Radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy; Recurrence rate; Symptomatic shoulder calcifying tendinopathy; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval for this retrospective cohort analysis was granted by the Thessaloniki Clinic Institutional Review Board (ART No 2012–04). All participants provided written informed consent.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

H Lohrer received research support and was a paid speaker from Storz Medical. The other authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Total number of rESWT sessions applied
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Success rates (>60% decrease in VAS score), mean and percentage VAS score reduction
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts