LEICeSter Tendon Extracorporeal Shockwave Studies

Overview

To assess whether the addition of Extra-corporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) to a structured home-exercise programme has any additional benefit to patients with tendinopathies

Description

This involves patients with one of 6 different defined chronic tendinopathies. These individual sites are run as discrete sub-studies, with randomisation n occurring within sub-study grouping

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients age >18
2. Symptoms (typically pain / stiffness) of at least 12 weeks of one of the following sites / conditions:
   1. Plantar fasciitis
   2. Insertional Achilles tendinopathy
   3. Mid-substance Achilles tendinopathy
   4. Patella tendinopathy
   5. Trochanteric pain syndrome (gluteus medius insertional tendinopathy / trochanteric bursitis)
   6. Tennis elbow
3. Referred for ESWT (shockwave) within the Sports Medicine Department
4. Objective imaging of tendon / structure confirming diagnosis and excluding tear or other structural injury (US or MRI acceptable)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with the normal exclusions for ESWT - including pre-existing skin injury over tendon site, recent steroid injection (within 6 weeks of ESWT starting), patients on anticoagulation, patients with haemophilia or other bleeding tendency, patients with current febrile illness
2. Previous ESWT treatment for the same condition