Arm proprioception in lateral epicondylalgia; a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Lateral epicondylalgia is one of the most common injuries due to overuse with inflammation of the elbow on the lateral epicondyle. Although the clinical features of this disorder are well defined, few therapeutic intervention has been effective. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the proprioception in the upper limb of patients with lateral epicondylalgia, using the sense of joint position and of force reproduction tests. Participants and Methods: Twenty patients with unilateral lateral epicondylalgia and 20 healthy subjects participated in this study. The evaluation of position sense of shoulder, elbow and wrist, and force reproduction sense of shoulder abductor, elbow flexor and wrist extensor were conducted. The proprioceptive performance was determined, using absolute, constant and variable error values. Results: Significant differences were found for the sense of the position of the elbow and wrist between the lateral epicondylalgia and control groups for the variables of absolute error (P=0.003 and P=0.02, respectively) and constant error (P=0.001, P=0.03, respectively). A significant difference was also observed for the sense of force of the elbow flexor and wrist extensor between the two groups for the variables of absolute error (P=0.02 and P=0.02, respectively) and constant error (P=0.016 and P=0.001, respectively). No statistical difference was found for variable errors neither in sense of position nor sense of force (P>0.05). Conclusion: The data confirmed the hypothesis of proprioception deficits in subjects with lateral epicondylalgia, compared to the healthy subjects during the evaluation of the sense of force and position.