Extracorporeal shock wave treatment for chronic lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
One article on PainSci cites Ho 2007: Does Ultrasound Therapy Work?
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
(1) Electrohydraulic, electromagnetic, or piezoelectric devices are used to translate energy into acoustic waves during extracorporeal shock wave treatment (ESWT) for chronic lateral epicondylitis (CLE) of the elbow (elbow tendonitis or tennis elbow). These waves may help to accelerate the healing process via an unknown mechanism. (2) Results from randomized controlled trials have been conflicting. Half of the studies showed statistically significant improvement in pain in the treatment group, and half of the studies had data showing no benefit over placebo for any measured outcomes. (3) Limited evidence shows that ESWT is cheaper than arthroscopic surgery, open surgery, and other conservative therapies, such as steroid infiltrations and physiotherapy, that continue for more than six weeks. (4) The lack of convincing evidence regarding its effectiveness does not support the use of ESWT for CLE.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Relationships Between Sleep Quality and Pain-Related Factors for People with Chronic Low Back Pain: Tests of Reciprocal and Time of Day Effects. Gerhart 2017 Ann Behav Med.
- Modulation in the elastic properties of gastrocnemius muscle heads in individuals with plantar fasciitis and its relationship with pain. Zhou 2020 Sci Rep.
- Association Between Plantar Fasciitis and Isolated Gastrocnemius Tightness. Nakale 2018 Foot Ankle Int.
- No Added Benefit of Combining Dry Needling With Guideline-Based Physical Therapy When Managing Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Stieven 2020 J Orthop Sports Phys Ther.
- Effectiveness of customised foot orthoses for Achilles tendinopathy: a randomised controlled trial. Munteanu 2015 Br J Sports Med.