Comparing two eccentric exercise programmes for the management of Achilles tendinopathy. A pilot trial

Exercise, orthoses and splinting for treating Achilles tendinopathy: a systematic review with meta-analysis

“…38 41 As heterogeneity was 62% for the VISA-A outcome, a sensitivity analysis was performed. Removing a quasi-RCT30 reduced I 2 to 0% and the MD to −6.22 (95% CI −11.37 to −1.07), thus favouring the lower dosage protocol. Two of these studies reported adherence; Stevens and Tan38 reported that the ‘do as tolerated’ group performed a mean of 112 exercise repetitions per day compared with 166 repetitions in the Alfredson protocol group.…”

Heavy Slow Resistance Versus Eccentric Training as Treatment for Achilles Tendinopathy

“…3,20,23,35,39 In the current study, the patients had baseline VISA-A and VAS scores comparable with those previously reported in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. 6,20,39,40 Over the course of the 12-week intervention period, the VISA-A score improved by >10 points, and the VAS R score was reduced by ≥30 points (mm) in both groups on average. These are clinically meaningful improvements and, moreover, corroborate previous reports of the effect of loading regimens on tendinopathy.…”

“…These are clinically meaningful improvements and, moreover, corroborate previous reports of the effect of loading regimens on tendinopathy. 15,34,39-41…”

Conservative Treatment of Chronic Achilles Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review

“…Yu et al [46] confirmed that eccentric is more effective than concentric strengthening for reducing pain and improving function in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. In a study by Stasinopoulos [16], an exercise program based on the Alfredson protocol was superior to the Stanish model, and Vanderplus et al [29] showed good results in a long-term follow-up study. While the success of these treatments is well-known, these studies are heterogeneous because, even if the Alfredson protocol could be standardized, it is commonly undermined by the increasingly selective exercises.…”

“…All the included studied reported improvements in functional outcome scores and in patient satisfaction, and a decrease in pain after eccentric loading exercises (ECC) treatment [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] (Table 1) compared to other training protocols [15,16] and intense pulsed light (IPL) [17], which were found to be similar. Hostmann et al [18] recorded major pain improvements with vibration training compared to ECC, which was similar results reported by Zhang et al [19], who documented a better VISA-A score in the acupuncture group compared to the ECC group.…”