ArticleInternational journal of surgery (London, England)2025
ESWT is able to change macromorphological and micromorphological parameters in patellar tendinopathy: a prospective cohort study.
Article in International journal of surgery (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Assessing the Effects of Focal and Radial Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy on Pain and Function in Patellar Tendinopathy.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2026Review
- [The regenerative potential of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in tendon tissue].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Global Trends and Hotspots in Ultrasound Imaging for Rehabilitation Research: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThis study aimed to assess the mid-term effects of focused extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) on clinical symptoms and tendon structure in patellar tendinopathy. Ultrasound (US) evaluation and an innovative in vivo analysis of intra-tendinous morphology using validated spatial frequency analysis (SFA) software were employed to quantify the organization and density of collagen fascicles.
methodsThis prospective cohort study included 21 recreational athletes (mean age 29.9 ± 9.3 years) with chronic unilateral symptomatic patellar tendinopathy. ESWT was applied as monotherapy over four weekly sessions. Pain was assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and disease severity with the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment - Patella (VISA-P) questionnaire. Morphological parameters, such as tendon diameter (TD), were assessed with US and analyzed using SFA software. The asymptomatic tendons served as controls. Follow-up assessments were conducted at the end of the treatment period and 3 months posttreatment.
resultsBaseline evaluations revealed increased TD in proximal part of the tendon ( P = 0.001) and decreased organization of collagen fascicles ( P = 0.013) in symptomatic tendons compared to asymptomatic controls. At the 3-month follow-up, symptomatic tendons showed significant reductions in TD ( P < 0.001) and improvements in both organization and density of collagen fascicles throughout various parameters - peak spatial frequency radius (PSFR) ( P = 0.024), P6 ( P = 0.05), Q6 ( P = 0.016), PPP ( P = 0.003). No significant morphological changes were observed in asymptomatic tendons. Clinical evaluations demonstrated significant reductions in NRS ( P < 0.001) and increases in Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment - Patella (VISA-P) scores ( P < 0.001) at all time points.
conclusionThe study suggests that ESWT may have the potential to induce positive structural changes in patellar tendinopathy, including improved organization and density of collagen fascicles. These findings indicate that ESWT could be a promising noninvasive approach to managing patellar tendinopathy, with observed improvements in clinical symptoms and tendon structure. However, further high-quality research is needed to confirm these results and establish their long-term efficacy.
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