Shockwave therapy in the management of complex regional pain syndrome in medial femoral condyle of the knee.

The aim of this prospective study was to assess the efficacy of shockwave (SW) therapy in the management of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). In this study, 30 patients (pts) who were affected by CRPS of the medial femoral condyle and unresponsive to previous standard physiotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment underwent 3 SW sessions at 72-h intervals, each consisting of 4000 shocks emitted by a MiniLith SL1 Storz electromagnetic generator. An energy flux density (EFD) of 0.035 or 0.09 mJ/mm(2) was used, depending on how well the patient endured the pain during the treatment. Satisfactory results were observed in 76.7% of the cases (23 pts) at the 2-month follow-up (FU) visit, and in 80% (24 pts) at the 6-month FU visit. The therapeutic effects of SW were caused by decreasing pain. The significant improvements we obtained bear witness to the potential value of SW therapy in the management of CRPS. Copyright 2010 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.