Facial Tightening Effects, Following Focused and Radial Acoustic Wave Therapy Assessment, Using a Three-Dimensional Digital Imaging

Shock Wave Therapy in Plastic Surgery: A Review of the Current Indications

BACKGROUND

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) represents a promising, non-invasive management strategy supporting the treatment of a variety of conditions related to plastic surgery.

OBJECTIVES

This literature review aimed to give a systematic overview of current applications, its mechanism of action, and its potential to provide tangible therapies in plastic surgery.

METHODS

The databases PubMed (National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD), Embase (via Ovid [Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands]), and the Cochrane Library (Cochrane, London, UK) were searched for articles published up to June 1, 2021. Clinical studies of any design including ESWT in the context of plastic surgery were included. Two reviewers extracted data, and 46 articles were analyzed after application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

RESULTS

Forty-six included studies (n = 1496) were categorized into the following broad themes: cellulite/body contouring/skin rejuvenation, burns/scar treatment, diabetic foot ulcers/chronic wound, and future perspectives of ESWT. Overall, applications of ESWT were heterogenous, and the majority of studies reported effectiveness of ESWT as an alternative treatment technique. Flawed methodology and differences in technical standards limit the outcome and conclusion of this review.

CONCLUSIONS

There is yet insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of any specific intervention included in this review; however, all included studies reported improvements in key outcomes. Where reported, ESWT displayed a good safety profile with no serious adverse events. Further research is needed to provide more evidence to delineate the indications of ESWT in plastic surgery.

Application of extracorporeal shock wave therapy in nervous system diseases: A review

Neurological disorders are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and their therapeutic options remain limited. Recent animal and clinical studies have shown the potential of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) as an innovative, safe, and cost-effective option to treat neurological disorders. Moreover, the cellular and molecular mechanism of ESWT has been proposed to better understand the regeneration and repairment of neurological disorders by ESWT. In this review, we discuss the principles of ESWT, the animal and clinical studies involving the use of ESWT to treat central and peripheral nervous system diseases, and the proposed cellular and molecular mechanism of ESWT. We also discuss the challenges encountered when applying ESWT to the human brain and spinal cord and the new potential applications of ESWT in treating neurological disorders.