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Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy

2003; American Physical Therapy Association; Volume: 33; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2519/jospt.2003.33.6.337

1938-1344

Gladys L.Y. Cheing, H. Chang,

Laser Applications in Dentistry and Medicine

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is an emerging treatment modality for managing pain caused by various musculoskeletal disorders. According to recent systematic reviews by Crawford et al and Odgen et al, evidence is accumulating to support the use of ESWT as an effective treatment for heel pain. The US Food and Drug Administration has, in fact, approved the use of the electrohydraulic OssaTron (High Medical Technology, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland) for the treatment of plantar fasciitis. The results of a meta-analysis by Odgen et al demonstrated that, of various applications of ESWT on musculoskeletal conditions, the use of ESWT for treating plantar fasciitis was the most credible. As ESWT may become a new and popular treatment for managing heel pain and possibly other musculoskeletal disorders, the purpose of this paper is to review the background knowledge of ESWT and to describe the technical details of this new modality in treating heel pain. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2003; 33(6):337–343.