Acupuncture may anticipate the antalgic effects of focused shockwave therapy to rotator cuff tendinopathy: A retrospective clinical study

Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether the clinical effects of focused extracorporeal shockwave therapy (f-ESWT) and acupuncture anticipate the clinical response in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy in the short term. Design: An observational retrospective clinical study. Setting/Location: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, Sant'Andrea University Hospital in Rome, Italy. Subjects/Interventions: We analyzed retrospectively thirty patients (22 females and 8 males) with rotator cuff tendinopathy. Fifteen patients underwent f-ESWT and acupuncture combined therapy (Group A) and fifteen patients underwent only f-ESWT therapy (Group B). Outcome measures: The outcome measures were the Visual Analogic Scale (VAS), Assessment Shoulder and Elbow Scale (ASES) and Roles and Maudsley Score (RMS). The follow-ups were T0 (pre-treatment), T1 (3 weeks after the start of the treatment), and T2 (at 8 weeks). In order to compare groups, the ANOVA and Friedman tests were adopted. Group A patients had a more rapid and statistically significant improvement trend in VAS (P <0.001), ASES scale (P <0.001), and a higher level of satisfaction to treatment assessed by RMS (P<0.001) than group B in the short term. Conclusions: The study showed that combined treatment decreases the recovery time of the shoulder involved in terms of pain and motor function in the short term. However, these results shall be confirmed by controlled randomized studies. (C) 2020 World Journal of Acupuncture Moxibustion House. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.