The Effects of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy on Knee Osteoarthritis Related Bone Marrow Lesions

Abstract

This thesis presents the findings from three studies that examined the clinical and biological effects of Focused-Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) on knee osteoarthritis (OA) related bone marrow lesions (BML). Previous research has indicated that ESWT can influence the underlying pathophysiological process of musculoskeletal disorders. This research showed that focused-ESWT is safe and has a dose-dependent effect on clinical outcomes in knee OA-related BMLs. However, the effects on underlying pathophysiological mechanisms were not conclusive.