Department of Surgery, Austrian Armed Forces Hospital-Vienna, Vienna, Austria; AUVA Trauma Center Meidling, Vienna, Austria; Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna; Department of Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Center of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria and Department of Surgery, Medical University of Ternopil, Ternopil, Ukraina
Possible effects of comorbidities and of different wound etiologies on the success of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) of chronic soft tissue wounds were investigated. From September 2003 until February 2007, 282 patients, being previously treated unsuccessfully were enrolled. Treatment consisted of ESWT occurring at defined intervals. At each treatment session a wound bed score was recorded, also at initial presentation a detailed patient history and wound etiology. Observed comorbidities were pooled according to the chapters of the ICD-10 system. Two hundred fifty-eight patients were analyzed (91.49%) and underwent follow-up for a median of 31.8 months. Wound closure occurred in 191 patients (74.03%) by a median of two treatment sessions. No wound reappeared at the same location. A multivariate logistic regression model showed that pooled comorbidities and wound etiologies did not have a significant influence on success. Comorbidities and wound etiologies have surprisingly no significant influence on the success of ESWT.