Injection Therapy in the Management of Musculoskeletal Injuries: The Elbow

Abstract

Elbow injuries are common both in the general population and in the athlete. Given the repetition and forces that the elbow is exposed to during daily activities and sport, it is a site of several different pathologies. Tendinopathy or epicondylitis, both lateral and medial, are a common cause of elbow pain secondary to these repetitive loads. Complicating matters, ligamentous injuries can be mistaken for tendinopathies, making the clinical and radiological diagnoses important before treatment. Other pathologies such as bursitis, arthritis, osteochondritis dissecans, radial tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis can be causes of pain in the elbow. Furthermore, other sites of pathology can cause referred pain to the elbow, such as cervical radiculopathy. Treatment of elbow pathologies with injection therapies has been studied extensively in the literature. Some diagnoses, such as elbow tendinopathy/epicondylitis, ligamentous injuries, bursitis, and arthritis, are more commonly treated with injection therapies. This article reviews some of these common diagnoses in the elbow, including both the clinical symptoms and physical examination findings. We will discuss the indications for injection treatment and the literature supporting or refuting their use, as well as demonstrate some of the techniques used while administrating these treatments.