Stroke is associated with a high rate of long-term disability, with motor and sensory impairments of the limbs being among the most common sequelae. Conventional treatments often show limited effectiveness in fully restoring function and may lead to persistent or irreversible deficits over time. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), a non-invasive therapeutic modality, has emerged as a potentially effective intervention for improving motor function after stroke. Its primary therapeutic actions include enhancing blood and lymphatic circulation in the affected limbs, promoting cellular repair, relieving pain, increasing joint range of motion, reducing pathological muscle spasms, strengthening connective tissue, and mitigating abnormal tissue calcification. Given these effects, ESWT may provide direct therapeutic benefits for patients with post-stroke limb dysfunction, with reported outcomes such as pain reduction, increased pain threshold, improved sensory function, decreased abnormal muscle tone, and enhanced overall motor ability. Therefore, this article reviews current research on ESWT for post-stroke motor dysfunction, aiming to explore its therapeutic mechanisms and provide evidence-based insights to support motor function rehabilitation after stroke.
Lu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.