| Knee osteoarthritis often causes significant pain, stiffness and impaired function, which can severely affect patients' quality of life. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is a non-invasive treatment method that has shown good efficacy in treating knee osteoarthritis. There has been an increasing focus on its therapeutic effects in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. By searching for relevant literature on shock waves and knee osteoarthritis in PubMed, CNKI, and Wanfang Medical databases, a summary and analysis were conducted. The review discusses the selection between radial and focused shock waves, dosage selection, treatment efficacy, and combined treatment outcomes. The conclusions are as follows: In patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, ESWT demonstrates significant efficacy, effectively relieving pain and improving function. However, its effectiveness in patients with severe knee osteoarthritis remains controversial. Moreover, the dose and energy density of ESWT are positively correlated with treatment outcomes, but high doses may trigger adverse immune reactions, especially in elderly patients. Nevertheless, ESWT shows great potential in playing a larger clinical role in the non-invasive treatment of knee osteoarthritis, particularly with regard to long-term therapeutic effects, in terms of dose, energy density, and treatment frequency. |
