Effect of Shock Waves in the Treatment of De Quervain’s Syndrome: A Radomized Perspective Clinical Study

Abstract

Background: Conservative treatment of De Quervain’s syndrome includes corticosteroid infiltration and physical therapies. Methods: In this prospective randomized clinical trial, 30 patients affected by De Quervain’s syndrome were assigned to either cortisone infiltrative treatment (steroidal group) or extracorporeal shock waves therapy (ESWT group). Therapy efficacy was estimated by monitoring pain (with VAS (visual analogue scale)), disability (with DASH (disability of the arm, shoulder and hand)) and quality of life (with SF-36) compared between recruitment (T0) and after three (T1) and six months (T2). Results: Both groups demonstrated statistically significant improvement after treatment. Evaluating the comparison between times, a statistically significant difference was found for VAS, DASH and 6 scales of SF-36 (p < 0.05). No significant interaction was found in the comparison between groups and in the comparison between time and group. Conclusions: ESWT could be a non-invasive option for treatment of De Quervain’s syndrome, particularly for those patients who prefer to avoid corticosteroid infiltration.