• Chunhong Li, Zhibo Xiao, Liuli Chen, and Songli Pan.
• Department of Operating Room, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Dec 30; 101 (52): e32053e32053.

BackgroundExtracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is a relatively new type of treatment for many musculoskeletal disorders. However, ESWT for low back pain remains controversial as the pain relieve benefit is questionable. We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the effectiveness and safety of ESWT interventions on pain and disability in patients with low back pain (LBP).MethodsIn this meta-analysis, we searched electronic databases in the Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane's library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Database to determine the equivalence of ESWT and placebo for the treatment of LBP up to April 4, 2022. A number of other outcomes were measured, including functional status, quality of life, and psychological outcomes measured by the Oswestry Disability Index. Weighted mean differences were calculated for continuous outcomes, while risk ratios were calculated for binary outcomes. Stata 12.0 software was used for statistical analysis.ResultsThirteen randomized controlled trials included for further analysis. Compared with control, the ESWT group showed lower pain intensity at month 1 (P < .05), as well as lower disability score at month 1 (P < .05) and at month 3 (P < .05). There was no statistically significant difference between ESWT and control groups in terms of the pain intensity at month 3 (P > .05). No serious adverse events related to treatment were reported. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the conclusions from this analysis were robust.ConclusionsESWT is effective in alleviating pain and improving the functional outcomes for patients with LBP. However, there remains a lack of high-level evidence to verify their effectiveness and safety and support their clinical application.Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

8 keywords...

hide…