Effect of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy on Cultured Tenocytes.

The article presents a study which determined whether inflammatory cytokine and matrix metalloproteases (MMP) production would be down-regulated by shock wave stimulation. Shock wave treatment was applied to diseased Achilles tendon tissue and healthy flexor hallucis longus tissue at 0.17 mJ/mm² energy 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 times. The differences in cell viability and cell count in cells receiving 1000 and 2000 shocks and 500-shock group are observed. Researchers concluded that the findings may aid in shock wave treatment of tendinopathy.