ArticleTranslational andrology and urology2025
Efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy for female stress urinary incontinence: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Translational andrology and urology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Laser for lower-urinary tract symptoms.Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) significantly impacts women's quality of life. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has emerged as a promising non-invasive treatment option. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of ESWT in treating female SUI. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases from their inception to January 2024 using 'extracorporeal shock wave', 'Low Intensity Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy' and 'stress urinary incontinence'. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical studies comparing ESWT with control groups for SUI treatment were included. The primary outcomes included International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF) scores and treatment efficacy. Secondary outcomes included Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7), Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) and Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI) scores. Results: Four studies involving 287 patients met the inclusion criteria. The ESWT method significantly improved ICIQ-SF scores [standardised mean difference (SMD) =-4.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): -6.71 to -1.73, I Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that ESWT is an effective treatment for SUI, significantly improving symptoms and quality-of-life measures. The evidence suggests that ESWT is a promising non-invasive option for SUI, particularly for patients seeking non-invasive alternatives to surgery. However, high heterogeneity among studies indicates the need for larger, well-designed RCTs to further validate these findings.
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