Comparision Two Therapeutic Methods for Lateral Epicondylitis: A Double-Blind Clinical Trial



Dehghani M¹ ; Khoob YT² ; Fanian H¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Isfahan Medical School Published:2009

Abstract

Background: One of the mostly used methods introduced for treatment of lateral epicondylitis which is local steroid injection. Flexing the wrist of involved hand strongly and suddenly, which is called complete the lesion is of methods used with local steroid injection and is not truly known. Methods: Through a double-blind clinical trial, 50 patients with lateral epicondylitis, visiting the orthopedic clinic of Ayatollah Kashani Hospital, Isfahan, were studied in two groups of 25. Case group received local steroid injection with complete the lesion maneuver and their hands were casted with a long plaster for 3 weeks. The control group received all above actions, except for complete the lesion maneuver. The patients were evaluated based on Verhaar criteria in third, sixth, twelfth, and twenty fourth weeks and categorized in four groups of excellent, good, intermediate, and poor. During the follow up period, seven patients were excluded from the study. Data were analyzed with Friedman and Man-Whitney analytical tests. Findings: During the follow up period, there was no significant difference between case and control groups (Man-Whitney test, P > 0.05). During the third week evaluation, the median of case group scores was a little higher than the control group ones (3.02 vs. 2.77). Also, we found that the treatments used for both groups had analytically significant effects (Friedman test, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Patients in case group had more pain, rather than in control group, through the first three weeks. Treatments used for both groups showed acceptable results through the short-term (weeks 3 and 6) and longterm (weeks 12 and 24) evaluations. It seems that more studies in longer time periods, focusing on the factors affecting condition relapse, may be useful. © 2009, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.