Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Lower Extremity Tendinopathy: A Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Objective Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), including radial shock wave (RaSW) and focused shock wave (FoSW) types, is widely used for managing tendinopathies. The difference in efficacy between the 2 shock wave characteristics with different dosage levels remains controversial, and the purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine it for patients with lower extremity (LE) tendinopathy. Design A comprehensive search of online databases and search engines was performed. This study included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting the efficacy of ESWT in treating LE tendinopathy. The included RCTs were subjected to a meta-analysis and risk of bias assessment. Results In total, 29 RCTs were included, all of which had a good methodological quality, with a PEDro score of ≥6/10. General ESWT showed significant effects at the immediate follow-up [pain score: standardized mean difference (SMD) = -1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -2.01 to -0.82, P

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