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
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:
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.
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 →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.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants in this arm will be receiving Extracorporeal shockwave treatment, supplementing their standard of care.
Device: Extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT).
Participants in this arm will be receiving the sham device mimicking extracorporeal shockwave treatment, supplementing their standard of care.
Device: Sham Device
Extracorporeal shockwave treatment is a therapeutic modality that uses focused shockwaves through an electrohydraulic process that uses higher energy per unit area.
The sham device (placebo) will be used in correlation with the standard of care procedures.
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 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
Plan to share: Undecided
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started May 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for May 2027, 24 months after the start.
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