Ultrasound-guided, high-energy extracorporeal - shock-wave treatment of symptomatic calcareous tendinopathy of the shoulder.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to test the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided high-energy extracorporeal shock-wave treatment in symptomatic chronic calcareous tendinopathy of the shoulder rotator cuff, and to assess the morphology of the hydroxyapatite deposits before and after this treatment.

METHODS: The study involved 80 patients who suffered from calcification of the rotator cuff. These patients were treated with an instrument with electromagnetic induction of shock-waves (Doli-Lithotripter, Dornier, Munich, Germany) under continuous ultrasound location of the treatment focus. The treatments were carried out in one to five sessions at an interval of 4-6 weeks. Each patient received a total of 1800 shock waves in each therapy. The flow density of the energy in the therapy focus was 0.08-0.42 mJ/mm2.

RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients (85%) attained complete freedom from symptoms or only had minimal residual symptoms when stressing their shoulder joint. The calcification suffered by 57 (71.2%) patients was completely resorbed after treatment and partially resorbed in 16 patients (20%). Complete resorption of the calcareous deposits led to freedom from symptoms. In all patients with amorphous calcareous deposits, there was complete resorption of the calcification. Mixed calcareous foci were eliminated in 64.7-77% of the cases, depending on the extent of amorphous structures. Complete resorption was achieved in 44.4% of patients where homogeneous calcareous deposits were >1 cm in size.

CONCLUSION: Shock-wave treatment in periarthritis of the shoulder is a new and very effective method for symptomatic calcareous tendinopathy. Extracorporeal shock-wave treatment has good prospects of success in any type of calcification. As a non-invasive technique with a high success rate, shock-wave treatment is an alternative to surgical operations in patients who remain symptomatic after exhaustive conservative treatment.