ReviewSouth African journal of sports medicine2022
The effectiveness of intratissue percutaneous electrolysis for the treatment of tendinopathy: a systematic review.
Review in South African journal of sports medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07498569 (Effects of Percutaneous Electrical Stimulation Combined With a Therapeutic Exercise Program in Patients With Chronic Supraspinatus Tendinopathy), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 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.
Effects of Percutaneous Electrical Stimulation Combined With a Therapeutic Exercise Program in Patients With Chronic Supraspinatus Tendinopathy
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of different intensities of percutaneous electrolysis for musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Percutaneous Electrolysis for Patellar Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of Dry Needling Versus Percutaneous Electrolysis in Achilles Tendinopathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Cureus · 2026Article
- The evolving landscape of minimally invasive procedures in musculoskeletal diseases-Part II.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle electrolysis for musculoskeletal injuries: A scoping review considering implications for athletic populations.South African journal of sports medicine · 2026Review
- Intratendon bioimpedance spectroscopy: a first step exploring reliability and sensitivity to change.PeerJ · 2026Article
- Percutaneous Electrolysis, Percutaneous Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, and Eccentric Exercise for Shoulder Pain and Functionality in Supraspinatus Tendinopathy: A Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Narrative review of long-standing groin pain in athletes. Retrospective analysis of over 12 000 patients.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2025Review
- Cytoarchitectural modifications and antiinflammatory strategies in tendinopathy recovery.PloS one · 2025Article
- The total electric charge and time of application of galvanic currents to macrophages can optimize the release of IL-1β with low cell death.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Biological and Cellular Effects of Percutaneous Electrolysis: A Systematic Review.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- The Efficacy of Intratissue Percutaneous Electrolysis (EPIInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Navigating the AI Innovation: A Publisher's Balancing Act with Fundamental Principles.South African journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Tendinopathy is highly prevalent in the general public and common in athletes. It makes up nearly 50% of all sport injuries. A number of treatment techniques with varying evidence of effectiveness are currently available. Intratissue percutaneous electrolysis (EPI) is one such modality, however little consensus exists for EPI's efficacy or the most effective treatment parameters. Objective: To review and appraise available evidence for Intratissue Percutaneous Electrolysis (EPI) in the treatment of tendinopathy, examining the effectiveness of EPI in conjunction with other modalities and identifying the strengths and limitations of the evidence base for EPI in order to make evidence-based recommendation for future studies of EPI. Methods: PubMed, Embase and Scopus were searched with keywords related to EPI and tendinopathy. Grey literature searches were conducted with Embase, OpenGrey, and ProQuest. Extensive citation searching was undertaken. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), uncontrolled and observational studies of the application of EPI in patients aged 18-65 years with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or clinical Ultrasonography (US) confirmed diagnosis of tendinopathy were eligible. Results: Eleven studies met inclusion criteria: six randomised control trials (RCTs) and five uncontrolled studies. Clinical trials of EPI as an adjunct modality with physical therapy reporting greater decreased pain and return to function than treatment with physical therapy alone. The evidence for EPI is limited and influenced by small sample sizes, varying treatment protocols, clinical heterogeneity and high risk of bias. Conclusion: It is currently not possible to conclude that EPI is an effective modality for the treatment of tendinopathy. RCTs with clearly described EPI treatment protocols, larger sample sizes and intervention reporting sufficient to support reproducibility are needed to determine the effectiveness of EPI for the treatment of tendinopathy.
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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.