An Audit of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) for Recalcitrant Musculoskeletal Disorders

Extracorporeal Shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a non-invasive treatment modality for overuse and sports related tendon disorders. Over the years its use has steadily grown. There have been numerous publications in the literature with mixed results. We introduced this treatment at our institution in 2010. In this study we have audited our results for patients who had this treatment for recalcitrant musculoskeletal disorders with a minimum follow up period of six months. These patients were asked to fill in a simple questionnaire with three questions related to their experience with ESWT. 57 questionnaires were sent out to 51 patients (6 bilateral). 53 (93%) completed questionnaires were received. The pain score on a visual analogue scale improved from 7.8 to 2.4 following ESWT (p<0.05). 85% cases reported improvement, 13% felt that there was no change in their symptoms and 2% cases reported that their symptoms were worse following this treatment. Although minor & transient side effects were observed by 5.7% cases, there was no major complication following ESWT. 85% cases felt that they would recommend this treatment to others. Based on the results of our audit we feel that ESWT is a safe and effective treatment for recalcitrant musculoskeletal disorders.