BACKGROUND: Various treatment methods for senile primary sarcopenia have been developed, but all of them are restrictedly used in clinical practice due to their limitations. Therefore, it is necessary to find a safe treatment with good patient compliance. OBJECTIVES: To explore the clinical effect of radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy combined with resistance exercise on senile primary sarcopenia. METHODS: Forty elderly patients with primary sarcopenia admitted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University from February to August 2021 were collected and randomly divided into control group and treatment group with 20 cases in each group. Both two groups were subjected to resistance exercise. The treatment group was treated with radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy based on resistance exercise. Skeletal muscle index, walking speed, knee extension muscle strength, thigh circumference, and serum insulin growth factor-1 level were recorded before treatment and after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment. All data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences were found in skeletal muscle index, walking speed, knee extensor strength, thigh circumference and serum insulin growth factor-1 level in both control and treatment groups at different time points (p < 0.05). After 4 and 8 weeks of treatment, knee extensor strength and serum insulin growth factor-1 level were significantly better in the treatment group than the control group (p < 0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, the circumference of the thigh was significantly improved in the treatment group compared with the control group p < 0.05). These findings indicate that compared with resistance training alone, radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy combined with resistance training can better promote the recovery of muscle quality and function and delay the occurrence and development of senile primary sarcopenia.

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