Lateral Epicondylalgia

Evidence Based Resources for Lateral Epicondylalgia (tennis elbow)

Research just published in the British Journal of Medicine reports that physical therapy with a manual component and exercise results in greater  overall success, reduced severity of symptoms  and  increased functional grip strength when compared to corticosteroid injection or a wait-and-see  approach for the treatment of lateral epicondylalgia.

While patients who received corticosteroid injection demonstrated profound initial improvements, by 12-weeks their condition had degraded to below  the level of both the physical therapy group and the wait-and-see approach.

Waugh et al. also found that patients with epicondylalgia who do computer work have a worse prognosis, despite often having a sports-related  mechanism of injury.  Interventions, therefore, should include assessment of workstations, posture and behaviors …areas in which physical therapists are particularly qualified.

When recommending treatment for your patients with lateral epicondylalgia, follow the evidence and consider the long-term benefits of physical ther-
apy.