Re: ESWT

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 46, No. 7, September 2004, Page 324 Letters
By: John W.H. Legge, MBBCh D.B. Clement, MD Jack Taunton, MD

I read the article “Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the management of plantar fasciitis” with interest (BCMJ 2004;46[4]:174-178). I am a plastic surgeon in New Westminster and for approximately the last 25 years have been using ultrasound as my main management of plantar fasciitis. It works in a large percentage of cases and I wonder if the reason this works is somewhat similar to the extracorporeal shock wave therapy method. I have always assumed it probably increases the circulation to the area, possibly healing some tears in the plantar fascia or possibly minor stress fractures in the calcaneous. I would be interested to know if the authors have ever tried this method and if they have any comments regarding ultrasonic treatment for plantar fasciitis. To my knowledge this has not been described in the literature.

—John W.H. Legge, MBBCh
New Westminster

Authors' response

This is an interesting observation by Dr Legge on his experience with his use of ultrasound in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. The use of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is assumed to deliver energy to the site of pathology to stimulate and restructure the area. The analgesic properties of this therapy on the patient’s awareness of pain are thought to be related to an inhibitory effect on the sensory nerves either on a primary or secondary basis. This ESWT energy delivery in the removal of renal calculi is clear evidence of the ability to disrupt solid material. In the management of soft tissue problems ESWT is delivered in a less intense manner. It is not yet clear whether the analgesic effect is caused by direct effect on the pain mechanism or in control of the chronic inflammatory process.

— D.B. Clement, MD
J.E. Taunton, MD
Vancouver

John W.H. Legge, MBBCh, D.B. Clement, MD, Jack Taunton, MD. Re: ESWT. BCMJ, Vol. 46, No. 7, September, 2004, Page(s) 324 - Letters.


Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply