The Effects of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Patients with Coccydynia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Shih-Feng Lin; Yi-Jen Chen; Hung-Pin Tu; Chia-Ling Lee; Ching-Lin Hsieh; Wen-Lan Wu; Chia-Hsin Chen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142475

The Effects of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Patients with Coccydynia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 10;10(11):e0142475. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142475. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Shih-Feng Lin¹, Yi-Jen Chen^{1

2

3}, Hung-Pin Tu⁴, Chia-Ling Lee^{1

2

5}, Ching-Lin Hsieh⁶, Wen-Lan Wu⁷, Chia-Hsin Chen^{1

2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
² Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
³ Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁶ School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Sports Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Abstract

Coccydynia is pain in the coccygeal region, and usually treated conservatively. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) was incorporated as non-invasive treatment of many musculoskeletal conditions. However, the effects of ESWT on coccydynia are less discussed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of ESWT on the outcomes of coccydynia. Patients were allocated to ESWT (n = 20) or physical modality (SIT) group (n = 21) randomly, and received total treatment duration of 4 weeks. The visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), and self-reported satisfaction score were used to assess treatment effects. The VAS and ODI scores were significantly decreased after treatment in both groups, and the decrease in the VAS score was significantly greater in the ESWT group. The mean proportional changes in the ODI scores were greater in the ESWT group than in the SIT group, but the between-group difference was not statistically significant. The patients in the ESWT group had significantly higher subjective satisfaction scores than SIT group. We concluded that ESWT is more effective and satisfactory in reducing discomfort and disability caused by coccydynia than the use of physical modalities. Thus, ESWT is recommended as an alternative treatment option for patients with coccydynia.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02313324.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Adult
Disability Evaluation
Female
High-Energy Shock Waves / therapeutic use*
Humans
Low Back Pain / therapy*
Male
Middle Aged
Pain Management
Pain Measurement
Patient Satisfaction*
Physical Therapy Modalities
Sacrococcygeal Region*
Treatment Outcome

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT02313324

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital (Grant numbers: KMTTH-101-012, KMTTH-101-023 and KMTTH 102-010) and the National Science Council (Grant number: NSC 101-2314-B-037-002 -MY3), Taiwan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.