Extracorporeal shockwave therapy in spinal cord injury, early to advance to clinical trials? A systematic review and meta-analysis on animal studies.

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy significantly improves locomotor recovery in spinal cord injury animal models through neural tissue regeneration. Nonetheless, in spite of the promising results and clinical application of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in various conditions, current evidence implies that designing clinical trials on extracorporeal shockwave therapy in the management of spinal cord injury may not be soon. Hence, further preclinical studies with the effort to reach the safest and the most efficient treatment protocol are needed.