Focal extracorporeal shockwave therapy in shoulder calcific tendinopathy: A retrospective observational study of sonographic prognostic factors.
Arianna Pesaresi, Vincenzo Ricci, Giacomo Farì and 4 others
PMID 40767460WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with shoulder calcific tendinopathy and subacromial bursitis had significantly worse pain and function after shockwave therapy than those without bursitis.
All patients without bursitis met the threshold for meaningful improvement, compared to only 5 of 7 with bursitis.
Key findings
01Patients with subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis had significantly higher post-treatment pain and disability scores than those without bursitis.
02All 11 patients without bursitis achieved clinically meaningful improvement in function and pain, compared to 5 of 7 patients with bursitis.
03Hard calcifications and joint effusion were associated with worse outcomes, but the differences did not reach statistical significance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Very small sample size (18 patients), which limits the reliability of subgroup analyses and prevents adjustment for confounding variables like age or BMI. Retrospective design with no control or placebo group, so natural healing or other factors cannot be ruled out as causes of improvement. Follow-up was only 90 days, which may not capture long-term recurrence or sustained benefit. Ultrasound assessment was performed by a single examiner, and Doppler imaging was not used, potentially missing details about vascularity. Statistical analysis was not adjusted for potential confounders, and comparisons between subgroups were limited by the small numbers.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. No funding was received for this work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the poor outcomes in patients with bursitis as evidence that shockwave therapy is ineffective for them overall. The study lacked a control group, so it is unknown whether these patients would have done worse without treatment, and the small sample size makes the subgroup differences unstable.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →