Long-term effect of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy in treating tendinitis of long head of biceps brachii

Objective To observe the long-term effect of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (RESWT) in treating tendinitis of long head of biceps brachii. Methods Eighty-six patients with tendinitis of long head of biceps brachii in the 309th Hospital of Chinese PLA from June 2014 to March 2016 were randomly divided into two groups: observation group (n=43) treated with RESWT and control group (n=43) treated with local anesthetic injection. There was no significant difference in gender, age and course of disease between two groups (P＞0.05). Primary outcomes including visual analogue scales (VAS), the muscle strength and the Constant-Murley were evaluated before treatment and at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment. Results Compared with control group, observation group had lower VAS scores 3 months after treatment: (2.6±0.5) vs (2.9±0.7), P＜0.01; 6 months after treatment: (2.5±0.3) vs (2.8±0.2), P＜0.01, higher biceps strength 3 months after treatment: (66.8±11.6) vs (60.9±13.7), P＜0.05; 6 months after treatment: (68.7±13.3) vs (60.2±14.1), P＜0.01 and higher Constant-Murley scores 3 months after treatment: (92.85±11.66) vs (86.92±10.17), P＜0.05; 6 months after treatment: (95.76±10.38) vs (87.25±12.41), P＜0.01. Conclusion Both treatments of RESWT and local anesthetic injection are effective on tendinitis of long head of biceps brachii, and long-term effect of RESWT is obviously better.