Effectiveness of ultrasound guided platelet rich plasma injection in comparison with extracorporeal shock wave therapy on improving pain and function in medial epicondylitis of elbow: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Effectiveness of ultrasound guided Platelet Rich Plasma injection in comparison with extracorporeal shock wave therapy on improving pain and function in medial epicondylitis of elbow: A randomized controlled trial Objective was to determine the effectiveness of ultrasound guided Platelet Rich Plasma injection in comparison with extracorporeal shock wave therapy on improving pain and function in medial epicondylitis of elbow. Methods: Randomized controlled trial was conducted on fifty-four patients with medial epicondylitis of elbow attending Sports Medicine OPD at RIMS, hospital, Imphal, were selected for this study and randomized into 2 treatment groups: platelet rich plasma injection and extracorporeal shock wave therapy. The outcome measures were visual analog scale and Mayo elbow performance score. For descriptive statistics mean, standard deviation and frequency were used. Students t-test and Chi square tests were used for analysis of different variables. A p-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The baseline characteristics of the patients in the control and intervention group were not statistically significant. At the end of 12 weeks and 24 weeks, there was statistically significant improvement in both mean difference of VAS (p=0.04) (p=0.03) and MEPS (p=0.00) (p=0.03) from baseline in both the groups but this improvement was significantly more in the PRP group. Conclusions: Platelet rich plasma injection is superior to extracorporeal shock wave therapy on improving pain and function in medial epicondylitis at the end of 6 months.