What Is the Best Treatment Strategy for Tennis Elbow?
American Family Physician May 1, 2002 Author/s: Anne D. Walling Up to 3 percent of adults have tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), an overload injury of the extensor muscles of the lateral elbow. Most patients eventually recover spontaneously, but symptoms can persist for six to 24 months. The leading treatment strategies are physical therapy, corticosteroid injection, and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Choosing among these treatments is difficult because studies are generally of poor quality and give conflicting results. Smidt and colleagues studied patients presenting to Dutch general practitioners to compare treatment options for tennis elbow. The authors studied patients 18 to 70 years of age who presented to one of 85 participating family physicians with classic symptoms of tennis elbow. Patients were examined for confirming signs and to exclude alternative causes of symptoms. All patients were assessed at baseline by a research physical therapist. Patient
