PMC

PRISMA flowchart for review and selection of studies

Risk of bias summary: review authors’ judgements about each risk of bias item for each included study

Risk of bias graph: review authors’ judgements about each risk of bias item presented as percentages across all included studies

Funnel plot of standard mean difference (SMD) versus standard error (SE). The SMDs of the pain score are plotted on the x-axis, and the standard error of the SMD is plotted on the y-axis. The vertical dotted line indicates the mean value of the SMDs. Visual inspection of the funnel plot of the SMDs of the pain score did not reveal substantial asymmetry. Egger’s linear regression test indicated no evidence of reporting bias among the studies (t = − 2.03; P = 0.06)

Forest plot of clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT). Effect of ESWT on a treatment success rate, b pain reduction, and c functional outcome over overall follow-up duration. The horizontal line links the lower and upper limits of the 95% CI of this effect. The combined effects are plotted using black diamonds. 95% CI = 95% confidence interval; Random = random-effects model; Std. = standard. Details of each comparison are presented in Additional file : Figure S1, Additional file : Figure S3, and Additional file : Figure S5

Forest plot of clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT). Effect of ESWT on a treatment success rate, b pain reduction, and c functional outcome at each follow-up time point. The horizontal line links the lower and upper limits of the 95% CI of this effect. The combined effects are plotted using black diamonds. 95% CI = 95% confidence interval; Random = random-effects model; Std. = standard. Details of each comparison are presented in Additional file : Figure S2, Additional file : Figure S4, and Additional file : Figure S6