Objective In order to reveal the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) with ultrasonic orientation for soft tissue disorders of the shoulder. Methods 151 cases of severe disorders of the shoulder were treated with ESWT. The course of disorders was longer than 3 months. Among them, 65 cases were of subacromial bursitis (SB) and 86 of tenosynovitis of long-tendon of biceps muscle (ILBM). The treatment point of ESWT was oriented with color Doppler ultrasonography, while the pain-point was determined with tenderness combining with local anatomic markers. The energy density of ESWT was 0.12-0.16 mJ/mm2, and 1-2 shock-points were selected for each treatment, the number of shock waves were 800-1000 times, each course consisted of 2-5 times, with an interval of 5 days. 25 of 65 cases of SB were refered for ESWT by ultrasonic orientation, other 40 by pain-point orientation; 31 of 86 cases of ILBM were refered for ESWT of ultrasonic orientation, other 55 by pain-point orientation. The satisfactory rate of SB and ILBM with ESWT were compared between 2 different orientation cases. Results Through 6 months follow up, the satisfactory rates of SB and ILBM with ESWT were 89.6% and 92.3% respectively in cases of ultrasonic orientation, while in cases of pain-point orientation, the satisfactory rates of SB and ILBM with ESWT were 67.6% and 73.6% respectively, the difference of satisfactory rates was significant between 2 groups. Conclusion The effect of the ESWT with ultrasonic orientation is better than the ESWT with pain-point orientation both for SB and ILBM. The ultrasonic orientation plays an important role in promoting the satisfactory rates of ESWT.