Source
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ullevaal University Hospital, Kirkeveien 166, 0407 Oslo, Norway. kaiabe@medisin.uio.no
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To compare the effectiveness of radial extracorporeal shockwave treatment with that of supervised exercises in patients with shoulder pain.
DESIGN:
Single blind randomised study.
SETTING:
Outpatient clinic of physical medicine and rehabilitation department in Oslo, Norway.
PARTICIPANTS:
104 patients with subacromial shoulder pain lasting at least three months.
INTERVENTIONS:
Radial extracorporeal shockwave treatment: one session weekly for four to six weeks. Supervised exercises: two 45 minute sessions weekly for up to 12 weeks. Primary outcome measure Shoulder pain and disability index.
RESULTS:
A treatment effect in favour of supervised exercises at 6, 12, and 18 weeks was found. The adjusted treatment effect was -8.4 (95% confidence interval -16.5 to -0.6) points. A significantly higher proportion of patients in the group treated with supervised exercises improved-odds ratio 3.2 (1.3 to 7.8). More patients in the shockwave treatment group had additional treatment between 12 and 18 weeks-odds ratio 5.5 (1.3 to 26.4).
CONCLUSION:
Supervised exercises were more effective than radial extracorporeal shockwave treatment for short term improvement in patients with subacromial shoulder pain.
TRIAL REGISTRATION:
Clinical trials NCT00653081.