The efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave for chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions: A protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: This systematic review is the first one to assess the effectiveness and safety of extracorporeal shock-wave therapy (ESWT) for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions (CMPC). METHODS: Seven electronic databases were searched for all relevant literature from inception to December 2019, including PubMed, the Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and Wanfang database. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ESWT for chronic musculoskeletal pain will be included. Two reviewers will independently select eligible studies and collected the detailed information, assessed the methodological quality. A third reviewer will join in discussion to solve disagreements. The mean difference (MD) or standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) will be presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of ESWT for patients with chronic MSK pain conditions. RevMan 5.4 software will be used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: This systematic review will explore the effectiveness and safety of ESWT for patients with CMPC. The primary outcome includes pain level, and secondary outcome includes function limitation and adverse events. CONCLUSION: It can provide the updated evidence which is of great importance for patients, clinical practice and health related policy maker in ESWT treating CMPC.