J Korean Orthop Assoc.  2011 Oct;46(5):380-386.

Clinical Results after a Rehabilitation Program for Lateral Epicondylitis of the Elbow

• Kim JY
• Seo WY
• Park CH
• Kim DW

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a rehabilitation program for the patients with lateral epicondylitis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-three patients with lateral epicondylitis were included from April 2009 to October 2009 and all the patients were treated with a rehabilitation program for 6 weeks. The evaluation at baseline and at 12 weeks after rehabilitation included the subjective assessment of symptoms and the objective assessment with measuring the grip strength and muscle power of the wrist extensors and flexors and the forearm supinators and pronators. After 6 months, subjective satisfaction was evaluated via telephone calls. The data was analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test (SPSS ver. 16.0).
RESULTS
At 12 weeks, the subjective satisfaction was improved in on the three questionnaires. The grip strength increased from 25.1 kg to 37.8 kg (p<0.05). On the Biodex analysis, there was significant difference at the wrist extensors. At 6 months, 21 cases had excellent or good results according to the score and 2 cases complained of remaining pain.
CONCLUSION
Our rehabilitation program is thought to be good treatment for the patients with lateral epicondylitis, and it is a practical and precautionary step for the cases of lateral epicondylitis if the patients themselves are educated to volutarily participate in the program.

Keyword

elbow; lateral epicondylitis; rehabilitation program; eccentric muscle contraction exercise

MeSH Terms

Elbow
Forearm
Hand Strength
Humans
Muscles
Surveys and Questionnaires
Telephone
Wrist

Figure

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  Figure 1 Grip power is measured three times and the maximal value among the results is accepted.

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  Figure 2 In phase 1, the patient performs gentle active and passive wrist flexion exercise (A) and grip exercise using a soft ball (B).

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  Figure 3 In phase 2, wrist stretching exercise is performed by using low-tension band.

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  Figure 4 In phase 3, main exercise is focused on eccentric exercise of wrist extensors. First, holding the forearm on the table. Patient extend the wrist passively and then, flex the wirst against the band tension for 3 to 4 seconds (A). For the force couple balances, shoulder and periscapular muscle exercise are performed. (B) is deltoid exercise and (C) is scapation.

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  Figure 5 In Biodex analysis, there is significant difference at wrist extensors.

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