The efficiency of multiple impulse therapy for musculoskeletal complaints.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to document the response of patients to multiple impulse therapy for a variety of musculoskeletal complaints encountered in clinical practice. METHODS A single practitioner in a private clinic setting provided the therapy to 249 patients. Survival analysis was used to plot probability of pain vs the days required for symptom resolution for each of 8 patient complaints. Analysis of variance was used to examine the influence of covariates such as age, sex, body mass index, and chronicity. RESULTS The average number of visits required to achieve a pain-free state for each of 8 patient symptoms, the half-life for response to multiple impulse therapy, and comparison of the results of published studies of low back and neck pain are presented. CONCLUSION Response of patients in the study sample to multiple impulse therapy for symptoms of low back and neck pain appeared to be considerably faster than that obtained in 3 recent studies.