Extracorporeal shock wave treatment for chronic rotator cuff tendonitis (shoulder pain)
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 rotator cuff tendonitis (shoulder pain). The acoustic waves may help to accelerate the healing process of chronic rotator cuff tendonitis via an unknown mechanism. (2) ESWT, which is performed as an outpatient procedure, is intended to alleviate the pain due to chronic rotator cuff tendonitis. (3) Limited evidence from a German study indicates that the cost of ESWT for rotator cuff tendonitis is one-fifth to one-seventh the cost of surgical treatment, with longer recovery time and time off work in the surgical treatment group accounting for about two-thirds of the overall cost. (4) The evidence reviewed for this bulletin supports the use of high-energy ESWT for chronic calcific rotator cuff tendonitis, but not for non-calcific rotator cuff tendonitis. High-quality RCTs with larger sample sizes are needed to provide stronger evidence.
related content
One article on PainScience.com cites Ho 2007 as a source:
- PS Does Ultrasound Therapy Work? — Many concerns about the widespread usage of therapeutic ultrasound, especially extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT)
