COMPARISON BETWEEN PLATELET RICH PLASMA INJECTION AND EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK WAVE THERAPY IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF PAIN AND FUNCTION IN CHRONIC LATERAL EPICONDYLITIS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Introduction: Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a painful condition of the elbow, resulting from non-inammatory tendinopathy along the extensor origin of the lateral epicondyle. PRP and ESWT are commonly used therapies for the treatment of chronic lateral epicondylitis. But the superiority of treatment over one another is not known. This study is conducted to compare between platelet rich plasma injection and ESWT therapy in the improvement of pain and function in chronic lateral epicondylitis. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled study was conducted in Department of Sports Medicine, Imphal on patients with chronic lateral epicondylitis comparing the effectiveness of PRP (Study group) and ESWT(control group). Data were collected from a sample size of 84 patients fullling the inclusion criteria. Analysis was done by using mean, SD, chi square test and independent t-test. Results: VAS and DASH score were used as outcome measures which was measured at baseline, 4 weeks,12 weeks and 24 weeks. VAS score improved from 7.13 ± 0.48 to 3.25 ± 1.20 and DASH score improved from 88± 0.9 to 34.16± 0.6 in the study group at 24 weeks follow up. Conclusion:There was signicant improvement in all outcome measures with p-value of <0.05 in study group. Hence, PRP is a promising technique for the treatment of chronic lateral epicondylitis.