The Therapeutic Effect of the Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy on Shoulder Calcific Tendinitis

Plain-language summary

Calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder is often self-limited with a relatively benign clinical course. Therefore, first-line therapy should be conservative and focused on symptom relief. However, studies show patients with Large volume deposits (e.g. ≥1500 mm3) and Subacromial extension of the deposits respond poorly to initial treatment such as analgesic medication, glucocorticoid injection, and physical therapy. For those refractory cases, extracorporeal shock wave therapy is introduced and shows resolution of symptoms and improvement in shoulder function in approximately 70 percent of patients. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy uses acoustic waves to fragment calcific deposits. Variables of the settings include dose (low or high energy), duration (impulses), and the interval of administration. However, an optimum value for the total cumulative dose of energy that should be administered has not yet been defined. Our study thus aim to find out the dosage effect of ESWT on the calcific debris sizes, pain, daily living functions, and shoulder range of motions in the calcific tendinitis patients.

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