Abstract

AGUILERA EGUIA, R.A.. Manual therapy in lateral epicondylalgia (systematic review). Rev. Soc. Esp. Dolor [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.2, pp.112-115. ISSN 1134-8046.

Lateral epicondylalgia (LE), or tennis elbow, is a musculoskeletal disorder that is difficult to treat due to the poor evidence base for intervention measures. The success of LE rehabilitation is based on clinical experience and on the treatment of the physical limitations found during the clinical examination. The main physical limitation in LE is lack of grip strength due to pain, leading to motor function impairment. Multiple treatments have been proposed in the literature (complementary therapies, physiotherapy, drug treatment, manual therapy, surgery) but most are lacking an evidence base to support their use. The aim of the present study was to select the clinical interventions in manual therapy with the highest level of evidence for the treatment of LE. A search was made of Pubmed, Cochcrane, National Guideline Clearinghouse, NHS Guidelines Finder, and CMA infobase for meta-analyses, randomized clinical trials and clinical trials. To evaluate the internal validity of each of the selected studies, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was applied and the level of evidence was subsequently classified according to the scale of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford. One randomized clinical trial and one randomized pilot study met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There is level 1B evidence with level A recommendation for the use of the lateral glide and wrist manipulation techniques for the treatment of chronic unilateral epicondylalgia.

Keywords : Elbow tennis; Elbows tennis; Tennis elbows; Epicondylitis; Lateral humeral; Epicondylitides.

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