Efekti peto- i desetonedeljne primene mehaničkih udarnih talasa na smanjenje bola uzrokovanog hroničnim lateralnim epikondilitisom

Abstract

Introduction: Shock wave therapy represents a new method in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis - tennis elbow, which achieves good results. Aim: The aim of this paper was to test and analyze the effect of five-week and ten-week shock wave therapy on the reduction of pain intensity in men with lateral epicondylitis, who played tennis recreationally. Materials and methods: The study included 21 male patients, aged 22 - 65 years (x̄ ± sd, 41.7 ± 10.5 years), with the diagnosis of chronic lateral epicondylitis, without calcifications, which had been established with a clinical and ultrasound examination. The subjects were divided into two groups, according to age: the younger group (≤ 40 years) and the older group (> 40 years). Once in seven days, all the patients were treated with shock wave therapy, which was applied with a focused probe (frequency of 10 Hz; 1,600 shocks; pressure at 1.6 bars). The patients had a total of ten therapies. The intensity of pain was determined with the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain. The assessment of pain intensity with the visual analog scale (VAS) was performed before the start of therapy, as well as after five and after ten applications of shock wave therapy, i.e. after five and ten weeks of therapy application. Results: In men with chronic lateral epicondylitis, a statistically significant decrease in pain intensity occurred on the VAS scale (p < 0.001), during the observation period of then weeks. A statistically significant decrease of pain intensity on the VAS scale during the observation period occurred both in patients aged under 40 years (p < 0.001) and in those aged over 40 years (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in pain intensity between the younger and older men, neither at the beginning of therapy, nor after five and ten shock wave therapy sessions. Conclusion: To conclude, our results indicate that the application of ten shock wave treatments in men with chronic lateral epicondylitis significantly reduces pain.