ReviewCureus2022
The Effectiveness of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review.
Review in Cureus, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07685509 (Comparison of Two Treatment Methods for Achilles Tendon Pain With a Focus on Pain, Function, Vascular Ingrowth, Immune Cell Response, and Cell Composition), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Comparison of Two Treatment Methods for Achilles Tendon Pain With a Focus on Pain, Function, Vascular Ingrowth, Immune Cell Response, and Cell Composition
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- [Ultrasound-Guided PRP for Tendinopathy: a Practical, Multimodal Framework from Biology to Rehabilitation].Acta chirurgiae orthopaedicae et traumatologiae Cechoslovaca · 2026Review
- Conservative Treatment Including Focused Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy as a First-Line Treatment for Isolated Peroneus Longus Tendon Tear in a Professional Football Player Shows Excellent Clinical and Radiological Outcomes: A Case Report.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A critical appraisal evaluating the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy in coccydynia.International journal for advancing practice · 2025Article
- Comparing the long-term effect of extracorporeal shockwave therapy and therapeutic ultrasound in treating trigger finger: A prospective cohort study.Saudi medical journal · 2025Article
- Sex Differences and Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy Outcomes in Runners with Achilles or Hamstring Tendinopathy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Advancements in Therapeutic Approaches for Degenerative Tendinopathy: Evaluating Efficacy and Challenges.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Gastrocnemius Release in the Treatment of Achilles Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2024Review
- The effect of extracorporeal shock-wave therapy on pain in patients with various tendinopathies: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Comparability of the Effectiveness of Different Types of Exercise in the Treatment of Achilles Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Achilles tendinopathy is one of the most common lower limb injuries in both athletes and the general population. Despite the plethora of conservative treatment options available for the management of Achilles tendinopathy, as many as one in four patients will go on to require surgery. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has emerged as a promising treatment option and has been successful in the management of other common musculoskeletal injuries such as plantar fasciitis. However, the evidence for ESWT in the management of Achilles tendinopathy remains inconclusive. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current evidence for the use of ESWT in the management of midportion Achilles tendinopathy. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the databases MEDLINE (Pubmed), AMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, and CENTRAL. The databases were searched from their inception to December 2021. This was conducted to identify randomised control trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of ESWT versus control treatment in the management of midportion Achilles tendinopathy. Following a comprehensive search of the literature, a total of 283 articles were identified. Following the screening of titles and abstracts, 236 articles were excluded. The main reasons for exclusion were the identification of duplicates, non-randomised studies, and the use of ESWT on other pathology. Following the exclusion of 236 articles, 47 articles were retrieved for full-text review. Of these 47 articles, 40 were excluded leaving a total of 7 RCTs eligible for inclusion in this review. There was consistent evidence from 4 RCTs that ESWT is effective in the management of midportion Achilles tendinopathy. This review suggests that ESWT is a safe and effective modality for treating midportion Achilles tendinopathy as it reduces pain and improves function. The best available evidence suggests that a combination of ESWT with eccentric exercises and stretching may be even more effective than ESWT alone. Further research is required to confirm this and to determine the optimum ESWT treatment protocol.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.