Effect Of Ischemic Compression Therapy with Eccentric Exercises on Selected Outcome Variables in Tennis Elbow Patients - A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background

Tennis elbow is the condition characterized by pain and tenderness over the lateral epicondyle of elbow caused due to repetitive movements of wrist and forearm. It is a painful condition which needs early intervention for optimal recovery.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the ischemic compression therapy with eccentric exercise on pain, grip strength and amount of difficulty in activities among tennis elbow patients.

Methods:10 subjects, 6 females and 4 males were recruited for study. The study duration was three weeks and age group from 30 to 45 years were included for the study. All patients received ischemic compression therapy at with the respective painful site followed by eccentric exercises. The outcome measures were pain, grip strength and difficulty in activities, tools used to measure were visual analog scale (VAS), hand grip strength dynamometer and patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation respectively.

Results: Mean difference values of visual analog scale, hand grip strength dynamometer and patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation were 7.40 ± 3.00, 13.80 ± 23.60 and 65.00± 22.00. All outcome measures were highly significant with p<0.0001.

Conclusion: This study concludes that there is significant improvement in pain, grip strength and amount of difficulty in activities in subjects with tennis elbow following ischemic compression therapy and eccentric exercises.