Sakr AM, Fawzi AM, Kamel M, et al. - ESWT affords an effective choice to treat CPPS, with long-term efficacy.

• This prospective randomized trial involved 155 adult patients with chronic pelvic pain syndrome, randomly assigned to a verum treatment group (in the lithotomy position given a perineally applied ESWT treatment once a week for four weeks with 3000 impulses each) and a placebo treatment group.

• Follow-up showed that mean values of NIH-CPSI, IPSS, VAS, and IIEF-5 improved statistically significantly in the verum group, with also statistically significant difference between both groups.

• A total of 63 (82.8%) patients exhibited ≥6 points reduction in the NIH-CPSI total score post-ESWT, while 13 (17.2%) patients did not.

• A significantly lower response rate to ESWT was seen in patients with a history of psychological disorders or who had higher initial NIH-CPSI score.

• ROC curve of NIH-CPSI score demonstrated that a score of 32 was the cut-off point above which the response to ESWT reduced.