Extracorporeal Shock Wave in the Treatment of Trigger Finger

The efficacy of ESWT in the treatment of trigger finger

Trigger finger (TF) is a condition that causes triggering, snapping, or locking on flexion of
 the involved finger, with a life- time risk between 2%-3% in the general population. A
 variety of treatments have been described, but the most effective treatment for this common
 disorder is still under debate. Recently, extracorporeal shock wave therapy(ESWT) has been
 advanced as a possible alternative to surgery for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders
 in patients recalcitrant to traditional conservative treatment.
 
 However, the effectiveness of ESWT on the treatment of TF is still in lack of evidence. The
 purpose of this study is to conduct a prospective randomized clinical trial to compare the
 efficacies of ESWT at two different energy flux density with placebo treatment for the
 management of TF. The investigators intended to enrolled 60 participants randomly allocated
 to three groups: low energy ESWT (1500 impulses and 0.006mJ/mm2, 3bar, once per week for 4
 weeks), high energy ESWT (1500 impulses and 0.01mJ/mm2, 5.8bar, once per week for 4 weeks) or
 placebo treatment groups. The effectiveness of the treatment will be assessed using cure
 rates, a visual analogue scale, the frequency of triggering, the severity of triggering, the
 functional impact of triggering, and the Quick-Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand
 questionnaire (qDASH) at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. An intention-to-treat analysis
 will be used in this study. The investigators intend to determine the efficacy of ESWT in the
 treatment of TF and to find out the ideal energy set-up of ESWT for TF treatment.