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RecruitingNCT06609265ESWT/BSIUpdated Sep 11, 2026

Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) for the Management of Stress Fractures and High-grade Bone Stress Injuries (BSIs)

An interventional study of Extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT). and Sham Device in Bones Stress Injury and Bone Stress Fracture, sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles. Recruiting at 4 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-11.

Sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started May 2025; still recruiting 1 year 6 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
140
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) for the management of high-grade Bone Stress Injuries (BSIs) in collegiate and recreational athletes compared to a control group receiving standard of care with sham ESWT.

The primary and secondary endpoints of the study are to evaluate the safety and feasibility of extracorporeal shockwave therapy for the treatment of pelvic and lower limb extremity fracture or BSI.

Researchers will compare the ESWT group to the sham ESWT group to see if ESWT results in better safety and efficacy outcomes for treating high-grade BSIs.

Participants will:

  • Undergo a screening period to determine eligibility.
  • Receive up to 4 treatment sessions of ESWT, with the frequency of sessions being approximately every 5 days (within a range of every 3-10 days).
  • Be monitored for up to 6 months for research follow-up, with further questionnaires and check-ins during the standard of care follow-up period until they are able to return to sport activity level.
Read the detailed description

Extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT) administered using the SANUWAVE Profile ESWT device is an established therapeutic modality that uses focused shockwaves through an electrohydraulic process that uses higher energy per unit area.

Each subject will receive treatment: the goal for each participant is to receive a total of 4 treatment sessions, with the frequency of treatment being one treatment on average every 5 days (permitted frequency every 3-10 days).

The treatment and care of bone stress injuries will depend on the injury site identified for the subject as noted in Table 1 of the protocol. The initial treatment will be set at lower energy settings and will increase using standard language delivered to the patient for Treatment Sessions 2-4.

Subjects will be monitored for a period of up to 6 months for research follow-up. Standard of care follow-up period begins in which subjects will receive questionnaires and check-ins to monitor for adverse events until the subject is determined to be able to return to sport activity level. If subjects have serious questions, they will be advised to speak with their treating physician.

In total, subjects are to participate for a duration of 8 months. The total study duration for recruitment, enrollment, and study completion of all subjects will last up to 3 years.

UCLA will serve as the IRB of record for all sites, and all sites will conduct the study as described in this application.

02

Conditions studied

  • Bones Stress Injury
  • Bone Stress Fracture

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Keywords

  • ESWT/BSI
  • Shockwave
  • stress fractures
03

In context

Fractures, Stress

23 studies on the registry are indexed under Fractures, Stress; 4 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 140 is above the median of 110 across 17 interventional studies indexed under Fractures, Stress.

Browse Fractures, Stress studies →

Lead sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles is the lead sponsor of 1,170 studies on the registry; 195 are open to participants now.

Of its 95 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 70 (74%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Male or female 18 - 50 years of age who engage in greater than or equal to 2.5 hours a week of physical activity (in any sport, with the primary aim to maintain health and fitness), at screening.
  • Documentation of pelvic or lower extremity BSI diagnosis as evidenced by one or more clinical features consistent with the high-grade BSI by MRI grading (stress reactions of MRI grade 3 or stress fracture, grade 4 by Fredericson MRI Grading) with specific stress injury sites to be included: pelvis (including pubic ramus and sacrum), compression-sided femoral neck with fracture line less than 50% diameter if grade 4, femoral shaft, posteromedial tibia, calcaneus, metatarsal (2nd-4th, excluding proximal 2nd), and fibula.
  • Written obtained from subject or subject's legal representative and ability for subject to comply with the requirements of the study.
  • If on NSAIDs, willing to refrain from use during the study.
  • If female of , both of the following must be met at screening:
  • Practices one of the following methods of and continues through the duration of the study: abstinence, hormonal contraceptives, IUD, spermicide and barrier or implantable device, and
  • Has a negative urine qualitative beta-HCG pregnancy test.
  • If female and one of the following must be met at screening:
  • Has had a complete hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy or tubal ligation or otherwise be incapable of pregnancy, or
  • Is postmenopausal for at least one year.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant, breastfeeding, plans to become pregnant during the study, or unwilling to practice during participation in the study.
  • Unsuitable candidate for the study, based on the opinion of the investigator (e.g. cognitive impairment), such that participation might create undue risk to the subject or interfere with the subject\'s ability to comply with the protocol requirements or complete the study.
  • Subjects who, at entry, are known to have alternative treatment (e.g. surgery) planned within the next 8 weeks.
  • History of severe osteoporosis (prior DXA scan with Z-score of -3.0 or T-score less than or equal to -2.5 and prior fracture history) or other underlying bone disease/disorder.
  • Chronic rheumatologic condition and/or history of chronic oral use.
  • Type II diabetes, other chronic underlying disease.
  • Morbid obesity ( greater than or equal to 35) at screening.
  • Has renal disease defined as having an estimated of greater than or equal to 40mL/min at screening.
  • History of osteomyelitis in the injured area on which the treatment is to be administered at screening.
  • Has a current history of substance abuse (current is defined as within 120 days of screening).
  • Has evidence of a prior fracture or BSI within the last 6 months in the same area as the current injury.
  • Has active cellulitis or wound either at the injury site, or in the surrounding area at screening.
  • Has an injury requiring surgical intervention at screening.
  • Current/active eating disorder diagnosis.
  • History of vascular insufficiency.
  • History of neurologic insufficiency.
  • History of coagulopathy, including previous deep vein thrombosis within six months of Visit 1; and/or therapy with anticoagulation medication (e.g. warfarin).
  • Radiation treatment within 120 days of Visit 1.
  • Presence of malignant disease with or without .
  • Has a of less than or equal to 2 years.
  • History of sickle cell anemia.
  • Has a known immunodeficiency disorder to include, but not be limited to: AIDS, , etc.
  • Has participated in another investigation within 30 days of Visit 1.
  • Has previously received extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) with a SANUWAVE device.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(12)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

DSM diagnostic criteria

The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment
140 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Standard of Care + ESWT

    Participants in this arm will be receiving Extracorporeal shockwave treatment, supplementing their standard of care.

    Device: Extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT).

  • Placebo comparator
    Standard of Care + Sham Device

    Participants in this arm will be receiving the sham device mimicking extracorporeal shockwave treatment, supplementing their standard of care.

    Device: Sham Device

Interventions

  • DeviceExtracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT).

    Extracorporeal shockwave treatment is a therapeutic modality that uses focused shockwaves through an electrohydraulic process that uses higher energy per unit area.

  • DeviceSham Device

    The sham device (placebo) will be used in correlation with the standard of care procedures.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Primary Outcome

    Incidence of adverse events as a measure of ESWT safety.

    Time frame: From baseline to the end of treatment at up to 8 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Secondary Outcome

    Radiographic healing of participants as defined by percentage of healing measured at different timepoints in the study. Radiographic healing at 8 weeks and 12 weeks compared to baseline will be defined as mild (0-30%), moderate (30-60%) or significant (greater than 60%) radiographic healing by MRI and mild (0-30%), moderate (30-60%) or significant (greater than 60%) radiographic healing as demonstrated by bone bridging by CT. The investigators expect to see about 48% "healed" in the control group by 8 weeks. The investigators would compare the control group to the ESWT group. If ESWT speeds healing by 2 weeks in MRI grade 3 and 4 BSI, this would increase the percent healed to 69% in the treated group. If ESWT speeds healing by 3 weeks in MRI grade 3 and 4 BSI, this would increase the percent healed to 79%.

    Time frame: From baseline to the end of treatment at up to 8 months

07

Study locations

3 of 4 sites recruiting
  • UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center
    Los Angeles, California 91803, United States
    Recruiting
    • Bailey Maslyar · ContactBMaslyar@mednet.ucla.edu · 310-869-5653
    • Azraa Adamjee · ContactAAdamjee@mednet.ucla.edu · 424-467-6746
    • Kristofer Jones, Medical Degree · Principal investigator
    • Aurelia Nattiv, Medical Degree · Principal investigator
  • Stanford Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Redwood City
    Redwood City, California 94063, United States
    Recruiting
    • Mikkael Lamoca · Contactmlamoca@stanford.edu · 650-721-7613
    • Michael Fredericson, MD · Principal investigator
  • Harvard - Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
    Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
    Recruiting
    • Michael Cheung · ContactMCHEUNG0@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU · 617-573-6981
    • Adam Tenforde, Medical Degree · Principal investigator
  • Hospital of Special Surgery (HSS) in NY
    New York, New York 10021, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Olivia Lynch · Contactlyncho@hss.edu · 646-714-6435
    • Marci Goolsby, Medical Degree · Principal investigator
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started May 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for May 2027, 24 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Sep 20, 2024
First posted
Sep 24, 2024
StartActual
May 1, 2025
Primary completionEst.
May 1, 2027
CompletionEst.
Nov 1, 2027
Last update
Sep 11, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 11, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06609265
Collaborators
U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, United States Department of Defense
Responsible party
Aurelia Nattiv (Principal Investigator, University of California, Los Angeles) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 24, 2024
Start date
May 1, 2025
Primary completion
May 1, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 1, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 11, 2026

Study contacts

Perion L Smith
Contact
PerionSmith@mednet.ucla.edu
310-592-0008
Bailey J Maslyar
Contact
bmaslyar@mednet.ucla.edu
310-210-6829

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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