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Updated: Sep 15, 2025
Author Spotlight: Effectiveness of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy in Achilles Tendinopathy Treatment
Published on: August 2, 2024
Comparing Dry Needle Therapy and Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review and
Zonglin Li1,2, Yubin Chen1,2, Lili Chen1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Objective:
To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effects of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) and needling therapy in the treatment of tendinopathy.
Data Sources:
PubMed (Medline), the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched from August 5, 2024, to August 25, 2024, for comparative studies of needling therapy and ESWT for the treatment of tendinopathy published between January 1, 2000, and August 5, 2024.
Study Selection:
Two reviewers independently reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported a comparison of needling therapy and ESWT for tendinopathy for inclusion eligibility.
Data Extraction:
Outcomes of interest were the visual analog scale (VAS) score and pressure pain threshold (PPT) score. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of the included RCTs with the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Effect sizes were estimated using mean differences (MDs), and the significance level was estimated using the P value of the overall effect.
Data Synthesis:
Nine RCTs involving 528 patients were deemed suitable for inclusion. Six RCTs involving 318 patients revealed that VAS scores showed no significant difference between ESWT and dry needling in either the immediate (MD, 0.06; 95% CI, -0.30 to 0.43; P=.73) or delayed effects (MD, -0.46; 95% CI, -2.10 to 1.18; P=.59). Two RCTs involving 132 patients revealed that PPT scores showed no significant difference between ESWT and dry needling in delayed effects (MD, -0.08; 95% CI, -0.30 to 0.14; P=.49). Three studies that enrolled 161 subjects concluded that ESWT combined with dry needling therapy was statistically more effective in reducing VAS scores in patients with tendinopathy than pure ESWT for delayed effects (MD, -1.79; 95% CI, -2.60 to -0.97; P<.0001).
Conclusions:
This meta-analysis shows that the combination of ESWT with needling therapy is more effective in reducing pain indices in patients with enthesopathy than using ESWT or needling therapy alone. ESWT, combined with needling therapy, should be prioritized for conservative treatment in patients with tendinopathy.
