Current evidence of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in soft tissue disorders

Abstract

Objective. To assess the current evidence of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) for patients with soft tissue disorders. This form of treatment involves ballistic shock waves, generated by a piezoelectric, electromagnetic or electrohydraulic source. Methods. This was a systematic review designed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews. We identified relevant studies by searching multiple electronic databases, relevant publications in English from 2010 to 2024. Two levels of screening were applied. During the first screening, titles and abstracts were reviewed and irrelevant studies were excluded. For the second screening, full-text articles were reviewed using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The electronic database search resulted in 391 articles. After removing duplicates (47), abstract articles (92), articles that did not meet eligibility criteria (154), and those that had poor design or provided inconclusive information for our study (68), we included a total of 30 studies in this review. The results showed that ESWT has a beneficial effect in soft tissue disorders by reducing pain and is recommended when other non-surgical therapies have failed. Conclusion: ESWT can play an important role in the treatment of soft tissue conditions, if there are appropriate indications, unitary treatment protocols that are correctly applied and reproducible. Keywords: systematic review, musculoskeletal disorders, pain relief, non-invasive therapy