Comparison the Effectiveness of Steroid Therapy With and Without Physiotherapy for the Management of Lateral Epicondylitis

Abstract

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of steroid therapy with and without physiotherapy for the management of lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow).Methodology: Patients, who fulfil the inclusion criteria of selection were admitted to study in the Department of Physiotherapy PSRD, Lahore. Each patient received an informed consent. Demographic data including name, age, sex, height and weight were noted. Participating individuals were randomly allocated into two groups by lottery method. Patients of group A were treated by steroidal therapy without physiotherapy manoeuvres and the individuals of group B were treated by combination of steroidal therapy and physiotherapy. The follow-up was carried out for up to 4 weeks.All the information has been collected with pre-defined preforms.Data was interpreted and analysed through SPSS version 22.0.Results: The overall mean age of cases was 38.90±6.97 years and 42.07±7.03 years. There were 38(63.33%) male and 22(36.67%) female in this study. Before treatment the mean pain of participating individuals of group-A and in group-B was 7.40±1.45 and 7.63±1.27 with insignificant difference. After treatment the mean pain in group-A and group-B was 3.40±1.73 and 2.53±1.57 with significantly lower pain in group-B, p-value < 0.05. When we compared mean pain before and after injection was significantly improved in both groups but the improvement was higher in group-B. The mean pain difference in group-A and group-B was 3.77±2.18 and 4.90±1.83 with higher improvement in group-A, p-value < 0.05. Conclusion:Results of study concludesteroid injection with addition to physiotherapy was more effective in reducing pain.We must encourage orthopedic and physiotherapist teamwork to treat tennis elbow.