Introduction: Myofascial pain syndrome is a non-inflammatory disorder of musculoskeletal origin, which is manifested by the pain and stiffness of the muscle, and the presence of hypersensitive palpable nodules in the fibers of skeletal muscles, referred to as myofascial trigger points. Pain and dysfunction can occur in any skeletal muscle in the body. For the time being, there is no method that would be recognized as the only effective way to eliminate myofascial trigger points. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy has been used increasingly for this purpose, since it has shown pain-relieving and regenerative ability in many other problems of the musculoskeletal system. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis was to determine the effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with in the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome, based on the literature review. Methods: In thesis we used a descriptive method with a literature review. The search had a limited time frame from 2012 to 2018. The literature was searched in English through following online databases: PubMed, Springer Link, EIFL Direct – EBSCOhost, J-STAGE and Taylor and Francis Online. Results: Nine articles were included in the analysis. Of these, three compared the efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with ultrasound, one compared the efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with placebo therapy; another researched whether the combination of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with stabilizing exercises produced additional progress in subjects, the remaining articles compared the effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with some other established therapeutic methods. Discussion and conclusion: Extracorporeal shockwave therapy has proved to be effective in most of the measurements used to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy, regardless of the selected therapy parameters, the number of therapies and the interval used between therapies. In certain studies, subjects received additional therapies, which may have affected the outcome of treatment. To confirm these results, it will be necessary to perform several randomized controlled trials with a larger number of subjects that will monitor subjects over a longer period. Further research is also needed to identify the most effective treatment regimen of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome.
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