• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2009

Purpose: Medial or Lateral epicondylitis is one of the most common causes of elbow pain and recently ESWT (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy) is welcomed as a new treatment modality and has been performed in many clinics. The purpose of this study is to report the clinical result after the ESWT treatment for the lateral or medial epicondylitis of the elbow. Materials and Methods: From Nov. 2005 to Jan. 2009, seventy four cases of seventy two (11 male, 61 female) patients diagnosed as medial or lateral epicondylitis of the elbow are included in this study. The average age was 52.4 years old. Authors used visual analogue scale (VAS) to assess the degree of pain at rest and during work, comparing the score before the ESWT treatment with that of $6^{th}$, $12^{th}$ and $24^{th}$ week after the treatment. Authors also checked the number of awakeness during sleep due to pain and compared them before and after the ESWT treatment. Results: Average resting pain score improved from 4.60 before the treatment to 2.01 at $6^{th}$ week, 0.43 at $12^{th}$ week and 0.16 at $24^{th}$ week. Average pain score during working also showed quite an improvement with time from 7.20 before the treatment to 4.05 at $6^{th}$ week, 2.01 at $12^{th}$ week and finally 0.36 at $24^{th}$ week. We checked the frequency of sleep arousal during a week, and also found similar significant treatment efficacy as the average frequency decreased from 9.64 per week before the treatment to 1.21, 0.08 and 0.09 per week at $6^{th}$ week, $12^{th}$ week and $24^{th}$ week, respectively. Conclusion: ESWT for medial or lateral epicondylitis is thought to be one of the effective treatment modalities for those patient group not quite responsive to other conservative treatment.