. 2018 Aug 2;19:278. doi: 10.1186/s12891-018-2204-6

Table 2.

Summary of included study characteristics

Study author (year) [reference]	Groups	Age (years) Mean (SD)	Sex F/M	N	Design	Diagnosis	Involved side Unilateral/bilateral	Athlete/nonathlete	Duration of symptoms (months) Mean (SD, range)	Cointervention	Follow up time point	Outcome results	Fund or grant^§	MQ score^*
Chen (2014) [51]	EG: ESWT + MSE	63.0 (7.4)^‡	102/18^‡	30	RCT, DB	Popliteal cyamella	NR	Nonathlete	10–144^‡	None	Baseline	VAS^b,c; ROM^b,c	Funded	7/10
	CG 1: USD + MSE			30							Posttest: ≤1, 6 months	Lequesne’s index^b,c
	CG 2: MSE			30
	CG 3: Non-ESWT^†			30
Geng (2017) [90]	EG: ESWT + APT	35.9 (10.2)^‡	19/41^‡	30	RCT	CPT	NR	Nonathlete	4.7 (2.8) ^‡	None	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; PTT^a,b,c	Funded	6/10
Geng (2017) [90]	CG: CT			30							Posttest: 1 month	4-point Likert scale^c
Guan (2015) [80]	EG: ESWT	45.5 (20–80)^‡	91/55^‡	73	RCT	PAT	128/18^‡	Nonathlete	12.5 (6–36)^‡	None	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c	NR	6/10
Guan (2015) [80]	CG: CT			73							Posttest: 6 months
Huang (2017) [88]	EG: ESWT	22.0 (3.0)	0/31	31	RCT	CPT	28/3	Athlete	12.0 (6–24)	None	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; VISA-P^a,b,c	Funded	6/10
Huang (2017) [88]	CG: CT	21.0 (3.0)	0/30	30			29/1		11.0 (6–20)		Posttest: 1, 3, 12 months	4-point Likert scale^c
Jiang (2016) [81]	EG: ESWT	35.7 (9.1)	24/16	40	RCT	CPT	40/0	Nonathlete	4.2 (3.9)	PT	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; PI^b,c	NR	6/10
Jiang (2016) [81]	CG: Non-ESWT^†	34.4 (10.7)	21/15	36			36/0		4.7 (4.4)	Pain medication	Posttest: ≤1, 2 weeks	KOS-ADLS^a,b,c
Khosrawi (2017) [48]	EG: ESWT	49.4 (7.8)	16/4	20	RCT, SB	PAT	NR	Nonathlete	> 3 months^‡	STE	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; MPQ^a,b,c	Funded	8/10
Khosrawi (2017) [48]	CG: Sham ESWT	50.2 (8.1)	15/5	20						Pain medication	Posttest: ≤1, 2 months
Liu (2016) [82]	EG: ESWT	22.1 (1.5)	22/28	50	RCT, SB	CPT	50/0	Athlete	4.9 (1.3, 3–6)	APT	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; VISA-P^a,b,c	Funded	6/10
Liu (2016) [82]	CG: Iontophoresis	22.2 (1.3)	23/27	50			50/0		5.0 (1.1, 3–6)	Massage	Posttest: ≤1, 3, 6, 12 months	4-point RMS^c
Taunton (2003) [83]	EG: ESWT	23–52^‡	5/5	10	RCT, SB	CPT	NR	Athlete	> 3 months ^‡	None	Baseline	VISA-P^a,b,c	Funded	5/10
Taunton (2003) [83]	CG: Sham ESWT		5/5	10							Posttest: ≤1, 3 months	Vertical jump test^b,c
Thijs (2017) [84]	EG: ESWT	30.5 (8.0)	8/14	22	RCT, DB	CPT	NR	Nonathlete	16.3 (18.2, 3–78)	ET exercise	Baseline	VAS^a,b; VISA-P^a,b	NR	9/10
Thijs (2017) [84]	CG: Sham ESWT	27.3 (5.2)	6/24	30					24.9 (31.6, 3–125)		Posttest: ≤1, 3, 6 months	6-point Likert scale
Vetrano (2013) [85]	EG: ESWT	26.8 (8.5)	6/17	23	RCT, SB	CPT	23/0	Athlete	17.6 (20.2)	STE	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; VISA-P^a,b,c	NR	7/10
Vetrano (2013) [85]	CG: PRP	26.9 (9.1)	3/20	23			23/0		18.9 (19.1)		Posttest: 2, 6, 12 months	MBS^a,b,c
Wang (2014) [86]	EG: ESWT	28.3 (7.4)	5/21	26	RCT, SB	ACL reconstruction	26/0	Nonathlete	21.4 (22.5, 1–72)	PT	Baseline	LFS^a,b,c	Funded	8/10
Wang (2014) [86]	CG: Non-ESWT^†	27.7 (7.7)	6/21	27			27/0		15.4 (21.9, 1–84)		Posttest: 12, 24 months	IKDC score^a,b
Weckström (2016) [52]	EG: ESWT	23.7 (2.0)	6/14	11	RCT	ITBS	NR	Nonathlete	60.4 (53.7)	MSE	Baseline	11-point NRS^b;	NR	7/10
Weckström (2016) [52]	CG: CT	24.2 (2.2)	7/13	13					42.3 (65.1)	STE	Posttest: 1, 2, 12 months	Treadmill test
Wu (2009) [91]	EG: ESWT	15.9 (11–19)	9/21	30	RCT	OSD	NR	Athlete	3–36	None	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; MPQ^a,b,c	NR	6/10
Wu (2009) [91]	CG: USD	16.5 (14.–19)	7/23	30					3–36		Posttest: 0, 3 months	3-point Likert scale^c
Wu (2016) [89]	EG: ESWT	26.0 (19–38)^‡	7/55^‡	31	RCT	ACL injury	31/0	Nonathlete	3.8 (1–12)^‡	PT	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c	NR	6/10
Wu (2016) [89]	CG: Non-ESWT^†			31			31/0				Posttest: ≤1 month	4-point Likert scale^c
Yang (2007) [16]	EG: ESWT	34.0 (7.4)	6/22	28	RCT	PTKS	28/0	Nonathlete	6.0 (5.3)	MSE	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; ROM^a,b,c	NR	5/10
Yang (2007) [16]	CG: CPM	33.0 (8.4)	9/20	29			29/0		6.0 (3.3)		Posttest: ≤1 month	4-point Likert scale^c
Zhang (2016) [92]	EG: ESWT	48.0 (4.6)	10/8	18	RCT, SB	Traumatic synovitis	18/0	Nonathlete	1–2	APT; MSE	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; ROM^a,b,c;	Funded	6/10
Zhang (2016) [92]	CG: Non-ESWT^†	50.0 (5.8)	11/7	18			18/0		1–2		Posttest: 2, 4, 6 weeks	Swelling^a,b,c; LFS^a,b,c 4-point Likert scale
Zhang (2017) [17]	EG: ESWT	34.8 (5.6)	7/21	28	RCT	PTKS	28/0	Nonathlete	4.7 (2.3)	PT	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c; ROM^a,b,c;	NR	6/10
Zhang (2017) [17]	CG: Non-ESWT^†	35.5 (4.9)	9/17	26			26/0		4.3 (2.6)		Posttest: 0 month	HSS^a,b,c; 4-point Likert scale
Zhou (2015) [53]	EG: ESWT	25.0 (18–30)^‡	30/30^‡	30	RCT	IPFP injury	50/10	Athlete	24 (1–48)^‡	None	Baseline	VAS^a,b,c;	NR	6/10
Zhou (2015) [53]	CG: APT			30							Posttest: ≤1 month	4-point Likert scale^c
Zwerver (2011) [87]	EG: ESWT	24.2 (5.2)	11/20	31	RCT, DB	CPT	18/13	Athlete	7.3 (3.6)	Sports participation	Baseline	VAS ^a,b; VISA-P ^a,b;	Funded	9/10
Zwerver (2011) [87]	CG: Sham ESWT	25.7 (4.5)	10/21	31			13/18		8.1 (3.8)	Medical treatment	Posttest: ≤1, 3, 6 months	Knee-loading pain test

^*Assessed using the 10-point PEDro classification scale

^†No application of shock wave treatment

^‡Value of total sample

^§Details of the funding information of the studies are presented in Additional file 10: Table S3

^aSignificant improvements in the control group compared with baseline (P < 0.05)

^bSignificant improvements in the experimental group compared with baseline (P < 0.05)

^cSignificant between-group difference for ESWT compared with control (P < 0.05)

MQ methodological quality, EG experimental group, CG control group, ESWT extracorporeal shock wave therapy, RCT randomized controlled trial, QRCT Quasi-randomized controlled trial, DB double blind, VAS visual analog scale, NR not reported, ET eccentric training, VISA-P Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Patella, PRP platelet-rich plasma, PTKS posttraumatic knee stiffness, USD ultrasound diathermy, MSE muscular strengthening exercise, APT acupuncture therapy, LPNIR-LI linear polarized near-infrared light irradiation, CT conservative treatment, STE stretching exercise, ITBS iliotibial band syndrome, OSD Osgood–Schlatter disease, CPT chronic patellar tendinopathy, PTT patellar tendon thickness, PT physiotherapy, PAT pes anserine tendinopathy, MPQ McGill pain questionnaire, PI patellar intumesce, KOS-ADLS Knee Outcome Survey-activities of Daily Living Scale, ACL anterior cruciate ligament, LFS Lysholm functional score, MBS Modified Blazina scale, IKDC International Knee Documentation Committee, CPM continuous passive motion, LCSI local corticosteroid injection, HSS Hospital for Special Surgery Knee score, IPFP infrapatellar fat pad, ROM range of motion