Abstract:

The aim of the study is to reveal the effectiveness of the extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) used in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis (LE) and to determine whether the pain period affects the success of the treatment. Tools and Methods: The study included 47 patients who received ESWT diagnosis and treatment. Patients with symptoms less than 3 months were divided into acute LE group (n=12), subacute LE group (n=20) and chronic LE (n=15) for those over 6 months. The results were the maximum for pain and relaxation visual analog scale (VAS), the perception dynamometry for capability and the patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) for arm functionality. All patients were evaluated before treatment, after treatment and 1 month after treatment. Results: After treatment, significant improvements were made in the VAS maximum, VAS resting and hand-covering power values, and these improvements continued in the follow-up evaluations. Additionally, the PRTEE values decreased significantly after treatment. Although there was a significant increase in PRTEE values between post-treatment and follow-up assessments, follow-up values remained statistically higher compared to pre-treatment. When patients were grouped according to the pain period, no statistically meaningful difference was found in changes in VAS, capability and PRTEE points. The result: ESWT is an effective treatment method in the treatment of LE. It is also an effective method of treatment in the acute, subacute and chronic stages of LE and there is no statistical difference between these periods.

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