Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Chronic Venous Ulcers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Chronic venous ulcers (CVUs), demanding specialized care, are still a major socioeconomic problem facing health care systems worldwide. This study’s main goal was evaluating the efficacy of ESWT application as an AT in the treatment of wounds for curing CVUs. Materials and Methods: 50 patients presenting with CVUs were divided into two groups of ESWT and control randomly. Then, ESWT was applied one session per week, during four weeks, along with routine CB. The control group also received sham ESWT together with CB. In this respect, pain score, wound size, patient satisfaction and quality of life (QoL) using the Charing Cross Venous Ulcer Questionnaire (CCVUQ) were consequently assessed at baseline, week four, and week eight and then compared between both groups. Results: The findings showed that patients receiving ESWT along with CB had significantly lower pain and were also feeling more satisfied than the cases undergoing CB alone (P<0.05). The significant efficiency of ESWT in improving the healing process of CVUs was further observed (P<0.05). In addition, QoL, assessed by the CCVUQ, was significantly higher in patients receiving ESWT (P<0.05). Conclusion: These findings established that ESWT was a feasible and safe option to treat patients presenting with CVUs in another word, ESWT seems to be a safe and effective adjunct therapy (AT) compared with CB in patients with CVUs. [GMJ.2021;10:e1931]

The Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy Compared with Compression Therapy in Healing Venous Leg Ulcers

“…This study found that treatment with ESWT was generally well tolerated. This observation is consistent with findings from other researchers [29,30]. This suggests the safety and acceptability of these treatments for patients.…”

“…The results showed that among the treated venous ulcers, 21 showed complete healing (49%), 7 showed significant improvement (16%), 12 improved (28%), and 3 did not improve (7%). In conclusion, the authors emphasized that EWST may advance the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers [28][29][30].…”

Low-energy Shockwave Therapy in the Management of Wound Healing Following Fournier’s Gangrene

“…Schaden et al [2] initiated the first trials on LI-ESWT for wound healing more than 10 yr later in 2007. In the meantime, several experimental and clinical studies documented accelerated tissue repair and regeneration in various wounds following ESWT [3] , [4] . However, the biomolecular mechanism by which this treatment modality exerts its therapeutic effects remains unclear.…”

“…1 C). On the basis of promising results for low-intensity shockwave therapy (LI-ESWT) in the management of chronic ulcers [2] , [3] , [4] , we first used LI-ESWT in three cases of Fournier’s gangrene with secondary healing of skin flaps ( Fig. 1 D).…”

Effect of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy in Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The 12 studies [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] included a total of 573 participants. Individual sample sizes of identified trials ranged from 20 [11] to 106 [12].…”