Physiotherapy versus platelet-rich plasma injection in the management of lateral epicondylar tendinopathy: A randomized clinical trial

Purpose, comparison of the effect of either physiotherapy or injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on management of lateral epicondylar tendinopathy (LET) chronicity. Methods. A number of 27 participant complaining of LET at least for 3 months were enrolled into our study and were randomly assigned into two separate groups; group A (PT group) which undergone physiotherapy and group B (PRP group) which undergone injection of PRP. Assessment of all patients was done through a blinded assistant pre and post six weeks of treatment. We used the visual analogue scale (VAS) to help in pain evaluation and also the hand-held dynamometer to help in measurement of the strength of wrist extensor muscles. Results. Significant improvement was found in pain and wrist extensors strength in the two groups when before and after treatment mean values were compared. Comparison of the mean values of post treatment in the two groups revealed that there was a significant pain reduction in as well as significant improvment in wrist extensors strength in favor to the PT group. Conclusion. Although improvement percent was better in patients of the PT group, both physiotherapy and PRP injection were effective in pain reduction and improvement of wrist extensors strength in patients suffering from chronic LET.