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Physiotherapy or Acupuncture for Lateral Epicondylitis

NCT02321696 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 36

Last updated 2017-12-20

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Work-related upper extremity disorders are common problems in working populations in western countries. Lateral epicondylitis (LE) or tennis elbow is the most frequent type of soft tissue syndrome of the elbow, with an annual incidence of four to seven cases per 1000 patients in general practice, and as high as 15 % of workers in highly repetitive hand task industries.

LE is a painful condition, leading to loss of function of the affected limb. Therefore it can have a major impact on the patient's work and personal life. If untreated, it persists for an average of six to 24 months and associated with significant sickness absence in 5 % of affected working-aged adults. The cost is therefore high, both in terms of loss of productivity and health care utilization.

Many treatments have been advocated in the management of LE, possibly implying that much is unknown about its etiology and how it best should be treated. Systematic reviews have failed to draw any firm conclusions as to what treatment is most effective in managing this condition.

Over the past 10 years acupuncture has gained wider acceptance for treating pain, by both clinicians and consumers of health, and there is some evidence suggesting that acupuncture treatment is effective in of acute symptoms in LE. A recent study supports that also elbow manipulation have a short-term relief of acute symptoms in LE, especially when combined with eccentric exercise. Our study will therefore explore the clinical effectiveness of physiotherapy versus acupuncture treatment of LE, compared with watchful waiting.

Conditions

  • Lateral Epicondylitis

Interventions

DEVICE

Acupuncture

OTHER

Physiotherapy and eccentric exercise

OTHER

Watchful waiting and eccentric exercise

OTHER

eccentric exercise

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Oslo

    collaborator OTHER

  • Oslo University Hospital

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Astrid Wahl, PhD · University of Oslo

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
67 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2015-02-28
Primary Completion
2017-08-31
Completion
2017-08-31

Countries

  • Norway

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02321696 on ClinicalTrials.gov