Focused extracorporeal shockwave therapy for youth sports-related apophyseal injuries: case series

BACKGROUND: Apophyseal overuse injuries are self-limited with skeletal maturity; however, they may be a source of significant pain and time lost from training. There is a lack of consensus for its management with the current available treatment, which might lag behind the ongoing development of regenerative medicine. The current retrospective case study aimed to assess the potential effectiveness and short-term safety of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in apophyseal injuries. METHODS: Data from 22 growing athletes [15 patients with Osgood-Schlatter disease and seven patients with Sever’s disease] who received ESWT at a sports medicine unit in a university hospital were reviewed. All patients received low energy (= 0.1 mJ/mm(2)) level-focused ESWT using electrohydraulic generation technology. The clinical focusing technique was used upon applying ESWT. RESULTS: The number of sessions received to achieve full recovery ranged from 1 to 3 sessions. The time from treatment initiation to previous activity level was 2 weeks in 14 patients (63.3%), 4 weeks in seven patients (31.8%) and 11 weeks in one patient (4.5%). No adverse events were reported. No recurrence occurred up to 3 months after the last session. CONCLUSION: ESWT is a potentially safe and effective treatment for apophyseal injuries. It may facilitate an early return to sport activities.