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Extracorporeal shock-wave therapy improves walking distance in PAD
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According to data published in Vascular, extracorporeal shock-wave therapy may be effective in improving walking distances at 12 months in patients with intermittent claudication.
“Early studies using [extracorporeal shock-wave therapy] in [intermittent claudication] suggested positive effects but lacked scientific rigor,” Jordan Luke Green, BSc, from the academic vascular surgical unit at Hull Royal Infirmary, United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote in the study background. “We have recently demonstrated that [extracorporeal shock-wave therapy] is safe, tolerable and clinically efficacious at 4, 8 and 12 weeks posttreatment in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial for [intermittent claudication].”
According to the researchers, the aim of the study was to determine the medium-term efficacy of extracorporeal shock-wave therapy in patients from the Shockwave 1 trial.
Green and colleagues assigned 30 patients with unilateral intermittent claudication in a 1:1 fashion to extracorporeal shock-wave therapy or a sham treatment for three sessions per week for 3 weeks.
maximum walking distance and intermittent claudication distance using a fixed-load treadmill test. Secondary outcomes included pre- and post-exertional ankle-brachial pressure indices, safety and quality of life assessed using generic and disease-specific measures.
The researchers followed up on 26 participants who were analyzed at 12 months (extracorporeal shock-wave therapy, n = 13; mean age, 67 years; 9 men; sham, n = 13; mean age, 71 years; 8 men).
According to an intragroup analysis, there were significant improvements in maximum walking distance, intermittent claudication distance and post-exertional ankle-brachial pressure indices (P < .05) in the active treatment group, with no improvements in pre-exertional ankle-brachial pressure indices.
According to the results, in three of the 19 domains assessed in the active group, there were significant improvements in QOL and the researchers observed a reintervention rate in both groups of 26.7%.
Although the results of the study were positive, Green and colleagues suggested a need for further investigation.
“Whilst this study provides important initial pilot data, a larger study with a longer follow-up is warranted to corroborate the findings of this trial,” they wrote. “Further work is needed to investigate the mechanism of action of shock-wave therapy and subsequent effects on the body, and to evaluate the economic aspect of this treatment.” −by Dave Quaile
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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