CONSERVATIVE AND SURGICAL-TREATMENT OF TENNIS ELBOW - A STUDY OF OUTCOME

Background: Tennis elbow is one of the most common lesions of the arm. The first description is attributed to Runge in 1873 but the name der ives from 'Lawn Tennis Arm' described by Morris in 1882. The majority of cases are believed to be caused by musculo-tendinous lesion of the common extensor origin at or near the attachment to the lateral epicon dyle. While there are some comprehensive reports in the literature of patients treated by one technique or another. there are no comprehensi ve reports of groups of patients For whom various techniques were empl oyed in a logical sequence until a resolution was reached. Methods: Th is paper presents a retrospective analysis of case notes and an analys is of questionnaires completed by the patients. Results: In this study we found that 67% of patients who presented with tennis elbow receive d relief through steroid injections either alone or in combination wit h a tennis elbow band or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The use of tither a tennis elbow blind or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dru gs or injected steroids made no statistical difference to the outcome. Conclusions: We also found that the patients who did nor respond adeq uately to conservative measures were relieved of their symptoms by sur gery.