The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2008;90:52-61.
doi:10.2106/JBJS.F.01494
© 2008 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow CME: Take the exams for this article:
 CME 1: January, February, March 2008 (publication date April 4, 2008; expir...
Foot/Ankle Test 11: Spring 2008 (publication date May 15, 2008; expiration ...
Right arrow [Supplementary Material]
Right arrow Letters to the Editor: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rompe, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by Maffulli, N.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rompe, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by Maffulli, N.
Related Collections
Right arrow Foot/Ankle
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Eccentric Loading Compared with Shock Wave Treatment for Chronic Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy

A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Jan D. Rompe, MD1, John Furia, MD2 and Nicola Maffulli, MD, PhD, FRCS(Orth)3

1 OrthoTrauma Evaluation Center, Hans-Zoeller Strasse 83, D-55130 Mainz, Germany. E-mail address: profrompe{at}web.de
2 Sun Orthopaedics Group, 900 Buffalo Road, Lewisburg, PA 17837. E-mail address: jfuria{at}ptd.net
3 Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Keele University School of Medicine, Thornburrow Drive, Hartshill, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire ST4 7QB, England. E-mail address: n.maffulli{at}keele.ac.uk
Investigation performed at the OrthoTrauma Clinic, Gruenstadt, Germany

Disclosure: The authors did not receive any outside funding or grants in support of their research for or preparation of this work. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

Background: Nonoperative management of chronic tendinopathy of the Achilles tendon insertion has been poorly studied. With the recently demonstrated effectiveness of eccentric loading and of repetitive low-energy shock wave therapy in patients with midsubstance Achilles tendinopathy, the aim of the present randomized, controlled trial was to verify the effectiveness of both procedures exclusively in patients with insertional Achilles tendinopathy.

Methods: Fifty patients with chronic (six months or more) recalcitrant insertional Achilles tendinopathy were enrolled in a randomized, controlled study. All patients had received treatment, including local injections of an anesthetic and/or corticosteroids, a prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and physiotherapy, without success for at least three months. A computerized random-number generator was used to draw up an allocation schedule. Twenty-five patients were allocated to receive eccentric loading (Group 1), and twenty-five patients were allocated to treatment with repetitive low-energy shock wave therapy (Group 2). Analysis was on an intention-to-treat basis. Primary follow-up was at four months, and afterward patients were allowed to cross over. The last follow-up evaluation was at one year after completion of the initial treatment. The patients were assessed for pain, function, and activity with use of a validated questionnaire (the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles [VISA-A] questionnaire).

Results: At four months from baseline, the mean VISA-A score had increased in both groups, from 53 to 63 points in Group 1 and from 53 to 80 points in Group 2. The mean pain rating decreased from 7 to 5 points in Group 1 and from 7 to 3 points in Group 2. Seven patients (28%) in Group 1 and sixteen patients (64%) in Group 2 reported that they were completely recovered or much improved. For all outcome measures, the group that received shock wave therapy showed significantly more favorable results than the group treated with eccentric loading (p = 0.002 through p = 0.04). At four months, eighteen of the twenty-five patients from Group I had opted to cross over, as did eight of the twenty-five patients from Group 2. The favorable results after shock wave therapy at four months were stable at the one-year follow-up evaluation.

Conclusions: Eccentric loading as applied in the present study showed inferior results to low-energy shock wave therapy as applied in patients with chronic recalcitrant tendinopathy of the insertion of the Achilles tendon at four months of follow-up. Further research is warranted to better define the indications for this treatment modality.

Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?