Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clinically evaluate the efficiency of extracorporal shockwave therapy for enthesopathies.
Materials, Methods and Results: 26 patients with mean age of 51 (range: 18–73) which suffered from enthesopathies in different regions were included in this study. Prior to treatment pain and function were assessed subjectively by using a visual analog scale ranging from 1 (maximum pain/minimum function) to 10 (no pain, full function).
The follow-up period was 6–18 months with an average follow-up period of 13 months.
All patients were treated with ESWT. One to three treatment sessions were provided to each patient with an interval of one week between the sessions. After all sessions were finished, pain and function were reassessed in the same method that was used before the beginning of the treatment.
The overall mean pain value was 1.96 before the treatment and 5.92 after the treatment.
8 patients (30.7%) reported no pain at all after the treatment and in 6 patients (23%) a significant improvement in pain was achieved. 7 patients (19%) reported of only slight relief of pain and 4 patients (15.4%) reported no change in pain level. Only in one patient (3.9%) worsening of the pain was observed.
The overall mean function capacity was 5.76 before the treatment and 8.65 after the treatment. 11 patients (42%) returned to full functional capacity and in 7 patients (27%) a significant improvement in functional capacity was observed. In 8 patients (30.7%) no change in the functional capacity was noticed.
Good results of improvement in pain severity and functional capacity were observed in cases of plantar fasciitis and tennis elbow.
Conclusion: We think the EWST is helpful for treatment of enthesopathies, especially plantar fasciitis and tennis elbow, and suggest to include it in treatment algorithms.
The abstracts were prepared by Orah Naor. Correspondence should be addressed to him at the Israel Orthopaedic Association, PO Box 7845, Haifa 31074, Israel.
