Recent Advances in Shockwave Therapy for Musculoskeletal and Soft-Tissue Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, which is titled "Recent Advances in Shockwave Therapy for Musculoskeletal and Soft-Tissue Disorders", presents a comprehensive overview of research highlighting the latest breakthroughs in the application of shockwave therapy for the treatment of a variety of physical problems and pathological conditions involving the musculoskeletal system.

Being first introduced into routine clinical practice in the 1980s for treating urinary stones (lithotripsy), the application of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has rapidly expanded across a wide range of medical specialties, yielding  promising outcomes for bones and soft-tissue healing, pain relief, and functional recovery. Due to the negligible side effects, such as pain during ESWT sessions and minor hematoma, this therapy represents a safe, advantageous, and well-tolerated approach without surgical risks or severe complications. Therefore, ESWT has gained increasing popularity for treating different musculoskeletal disorders and soft-tissue injuries.

Although increasing evidence indicates that the application of ESWT to the locomotor system may lead to various benefits beyond a mere mechanical disintegrative effect, the precise cellular and molecular mechanisms of shock waves are still largely unknown. At the same time, different forms of ESWT (i.e., radial and focal ESWT) and treatment protocols may have substantial influences on achieving therapeutic effects and thus good clinical outcomes. Therefore, further studies are needed to identify the optimal treatment protocol and appropriate setup parameters (i.e., dosage, interval of treatments, number of sessions) for target patient populations.

This Special Issue brings together review and original articles that delve into various aspects of ESWT to provide current evidence on novel treatment indications for shockwave therapy, the advantages/disadvantages of ESWT protocols, and controversies regarding ESWT, clinical indications, biological principles, and mechanisms of action.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Biomedicines.

Prof. Dr. Marco Gesi
Prof. Dr. Mario Vetrano
Prof. Dr. Maria Chiara Vulpiani
Dr. Maria Cristina D'Agostino
Dr. Larisa Ryskalin
Dr. Federica Fulceri
Guest Editors

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• shockwave
• tissue regeneration
• pain
• functional recovery and healing
• physical medicine and rehabilitation
• clinical applications
• imaging