Radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy is associated with reduced facial skin pore size.
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy in plastic, hand, aesthetic, and reconstructive surgery.
Karsten Knobloch · Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift (1946) · 2026
Background
Plastic surgery is a multidimensional surgical discipline including reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, aesthetic surgery, and burn surgery, all on the fundament of plastic surgical research.
Methods
In aesthetic surgery, cellulite has been studied extensively, with more than 15 clinical studies, some of them randomized.
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Results
radial shockwave therapy reduced facial skin pore size by this amount
More results
In all of these disciplines, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has been studied both experimentally and clinically.
In reconstructive surgery, experimental data clearly demonstrate better survival of flaps when either pre- and/or postconditioned with ESWT, with fewer complications.
More results
Both radial and focused ESWT improve cellulite after 6-8 sessions by 25-35%.
In breast reconstruction, ESWT has been shown to reduce the capsular fibrosis associated with breast implants.
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Conclusion
As detailed in this article, ESWT is successfully applied in the entire field of plastic surgery-in reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, burn surgery, and aesthetic surgery, improving outcomes and reducing complications.