Introduction: Low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal condition affecting the adult population. It is defined as pain or discomfort localized below the costal margin and above the inferior gluteal folds, with or without referred leg pain, and pain that lasts for at least twelve weeks. Almost a third of all physiotherapy sessions consist of patients with chronic low back pain. Physical therapy for these patients most commonly consist of kinesitherapy and manual therapy, and complemented with different physical agents. One of the promising new techniques of physical therapy for the treatment of musculoskeletal impairments is extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Purpose: The purpose of this diploma work is to assess effects of focused and radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with chronic low back pain using scientific literature. Methods: Literature for the systematic review was searched on databases PubMed, PEDro, ScienceDirect, Cochrane and research network ResearchGate. The main inclusion criteria were patients over the age of 18 with chronic low back pain, fully accessible articles in English language and use the use of radial or focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Results: Six articles were included in the systematic review based on the inclusion criteria. Authors of the articles mostly assessed effects on pain and in most studies also on physical function and quality of life. Results in all six articles showed statistically significant improvements in pain intensity. Pain intensity reduced from 38% to 71% on the visual analogue scale. Functional efficiency also improved. There was an improvement in physical ability, depression, quality of life, range of motion of the lumbar spine and balance. Discussion and conclusion: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy can present a safe and effective method for the treatment of chronic low back pain. Further studies are needed to determine a standard protocol of the application of extracorporeal shockwave therapy for these patients. Studies with larger sample sizes and long-term observations also need to be conducted.
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