CME OnDemand: 2022 AOFAS Annual Meeting-Clinical Outcomes of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Achilles Tendinopathy: an Analysis of Injury Location, Age, and Body Mass Index

Clinical Outcomes of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Achilles Tendinopathy: an Analysis of Injury Location, Age, and Body Mass Index

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This study analyzed the clinical outcomes of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) for Achilles tendinopathy (AT) and evaluated the impact of age, body mass index (BMI), and location of injury on these outcomes. The study included 48 patients with an average age of 50.8 years and BMI of 27.3. Patients with a BMI <25.0 had significantly higher post-operative scores for pain and functional outcomes compared to those with a BMI >25.0. Patients ≤50 years old also had significantly higher post-operative scores compared to those >50 years old. However, there were no significant differences in pre- and post-operative scores between patients with insertional (IAT) and non-insertional (nIAT) AT, except for pre-operative pain scores where nIAT was higher. There were significant improvements in pain scores for both IAT and nIAT cohorts from pre- to post-operative treatment. However, functional outcomes showed significant improvement only for the IAT cohort, not the nIAT cohort. The study concluded that increased BMI and age are factors that adversely affect functional outcomes in patients with AT treated with ESWT, while pain improvement is not significantly affected by these risk factors. Additionally, the study found that nIAT had higher pre-operative pain levels than IAT, and there was no significant improvement in functional outcomes for the nIAT cohort. This is likely due to the lower vascularity in the mid-substance of the Achilles tendon, which weakens the healing benefits of ESWT. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the clinical outcomes of ESWT for AT and identifies factors that may influence treatment effectiveness.

Asset Subtitle

Hugo A. Ubillus, MD, Mohammad T. Azam, BS, Nathan Jia, Danny Zheng, Matthew B. Weiss, BS, John G. Kennedy, MD, FRCS(Orth)

Keywords

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy

Achilles tendinopathy

clinical outcomes

age

body mass index

location of injury

BMI

pain scores

functional outcomes

treatment effectiveness