Comparison of Radial Pressure Waves and Focused Extracorporeal Shock Waves in Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the clinical efficacy of radial pressure waves and focused external shock wave therapy for knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Materials and Methods: From October 2020, 90 patients aged 45–65 years old with Kellgren and Lawrence classification (K-L) stage I and II of KOA were selected in our hospital or randomly assigned to 3 groups with 30 cases in each group. One group was treated with antiinflamatory medication. The other two groups received one course of treatment (once a week, 4 times in total) performed by using radial focused shock waves respectively, and follow-up was conducted by telephone and outpatient review 3, 6, and 9 months after the treatment. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) osteoarthritis score were used before and after treatment. Results: (1) VAS, WOMAC, and evaluation indexes of both treated groups were better than those of the control group (oral drug group); (3) The score of the radial group was significantly different from that of the focused group (P > 0.05). Conclusion: (1) Focused and radial pressure waves (RPW) have good clinical therapeutic effect on early KOA (2) Comparison of long-term effect: focused shock waves are more significant than radial (3) Radial pressure waves area good indication in relatively young patients, short course of disease (within 1 year), and K-L stage I an II. (4) In older patients, with more than a year of symptoms and K-L stages II and III, focal waves are more effective than radial waves. (5) Patients with acute onset and night pain or accompanied by obvious effusion can first take nonsteroidal drugs orally continuously for a week, and the treatment effect is better. During treatment, the drugs can be continued or stopped according to the specific conditions. When synovial edema and effusion of the joint decreased, the conventional parameters were used for treatment. Keywords: Knee osteoarthritis, Extracorporeal shock wave therapy, Radial Pressure Waves