Effect of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy on Spasticity in Patients with Cerebral Palsy: A Meta-analysis of Timing of Outcome Measurement

Review question / Objective: Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has recently been suggested as an alternative treatment for managing spasticity in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, little is known about the duration of its effect on reducing spasticity in CP patients. Herein, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of ESWT in controlling spasticity in CP patients according to the follow-up periods. Condition being studied: Recently, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has been suggested as an alternative treatment for managing spasticity in children with CP. ESWT has merits in that it can be applied easily and conveniently without significant procedural pain and rarely causes major complications. Previous clinical trials evaluated the effect of ESWT in reducing spasticity in CP patients. In a 2019 meta-analysis showed that ESWT has a positive spasticity-reducing effect; however, they evaluated only the effect immediately after the termination of ESWT. For the clinical use of ESWT, clinicians should be aware of the duration of the spasticity-reducing effect after ESWT completion. In the present meta-analysis, we evaluated the effect of ESWT on spasticity in CP patients according to the follow-up periods.