RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in common lower limb conditions: a systematic review including quantification of patient-rated pain reduction JF British Journal of Sports Medicine JO Br J Sports Med FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine SP 387 OP 407 DO 10.1136/bjsports-2016-097347 VO 52 IS 6 A1 Korakakis, Vasileios A1 Whiteley, Rodney A1 Tzavara, Alexander A1 Malliaropoulos, Nikolaos YR 2018 UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/6/387.abstract AB Objective To evaluate extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in treating Achilles tendinopathy (AT), greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS), medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), patellar tendinopathy (PT) and proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT).Design Systematic review.Eligibility criteria Randomised and non-randomised studies assessing ESWT in patients with AT, GTPS, MTSS, PT and PHT were included. Risk of bias and quality of studies were evaluated.Results Moderate-level evidence suggests (1) no difference between focused ESWT and placebo ESWT at short and mid-term in PT and (2) radial ESWT is superior to conservative treatment at short, mid and long term in PHT. Low-level evidence suggests that ESWT (1) is comparable to eccentric training, but superior to wait-and-see policy at 4 months in mid-portion AT; (2) is superior to eccentric training at 4 months in insertional AT; (3) less effective than corticosteroid injection at short term, but ESWT produced superior results at mid and long term in GTPS; (4) produced comparable results to control treatment at long term in GTPS; and (5) is superior to control conservative treatment at long term in PT. Regarding the rest of the results, there was only very low or no level of evidence. 13 studies showed high risk of bias largely due to methodology, blinding and reporting.Conclusion Low level of evidence suggests that ESWT may be effective for some lower limb conditions in all phases of the rehabilitation.