Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2013 Nov;94(11):2068-74. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2013.05.022. Epub 2013 Jun 22.
To determine the short- and long-term effectiveness of the muscle energy technique (MET) compared with corticosteroid injections (CSIs) for chronic lateral epicondylitis (LE).
Randomized controlled trial with 1 year of follow-up.
Outpatient clinic of a university's department of physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Patients with chronic LE (N=82; 45 women, 37 men).
Eight sessions of MET, or a single CSI was applied.
Grip strength, pain intensity, and functional status were assessed using the pain-free grip strength (PFGS), a visual analog scale (VAS), and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, respectively. Measurements were performed before beginning treatment and at 6, 26, and 52 weeks afterward.
When the baseline PFGS, VAS, and DASH scores were compared with the scores at the 52-week follow-up, statistically significant improvements were observed in both groups over time. The patients who received a CSI showed significantly better effects at 6 weeks according to the PFGS and VAS scores, but declined thereafter. At the 26- and 52-week follow-ups, the patients who received the MET were statistically significantly better in terms of grip strength and pain scores. At 52 weeks, the mean PFGS score in the MET group was significantly higher (75.08±26.19 vs 62.24±21.83; P=.007) and the mean VAS score was significantly lower (3.28±2.86 vs 4.95±2.36; P=.001) than those of the CSI group. Although improvements in the DASH scores were more pronounced in the MET group, the differences in DASH scores between the groups were not statistically significant.
This study showed that while both MET and CSI improved measures of strength, pain, and function compared with baseline, subjects receiving MET had better scores at 52 weeks for PFGS and the VAS for pain. We conclude that MET appears to be an effective intervention in the treatment of LE.
比较肌能量技术（MET）与皮质类固醇注射（CSIs）治疗慢性外上髁炎（LE）的短期和长期疗效。
1 年随访的随机对照试验。
大学物理医学与康复系的门诊诊所。
82 例慢性 LE 患者（45 名女性，37 名男性）。
接受 8 次 MET 或单次 CSI。
使用无痛握力（PFGS）、视觉模拟量表（VAS）和手臂、肩部和手残疾问卷（DASH）分别评估握力、疼痛强度和功能状态。治疗前及治疗后 6、26 和 52 周进行测量。
与基线时的 PFGS、VAS 和 DASH 评分相比，两组患者在整个研究过程中随时间推移均显示出显著改善。接受 CSI 的患者在 PFGS 和 VAS 评分上，在治疗后 6 周时效果明显更好，但随后下降。在 26 周和 52 周的随访中，接受 MET 的患者在握力和疼痛评分方面具有显著统计学意义的改善。在 52 周时，MET 组的平均 PFGS 评分显著更高（75.08±26.19 比 62.24±21.83；P=.007），VAS 评分显著更低（3.28±2.86 比 4.95±2.36；P=.001）。虽然 MET 组的 DASH 评分改善更为显著，但两组间 DASH 评分差异无统计学意义。
本研究表明，与基线相比，MET 和 CSI 均能改善力量、疼痛和功能测量指标，但接受 MET 的患者在 52 周时 PFGS 和疼痛 VAS 的评分更好。我们的结论是，MET 似乎是治疗 LE 的一种有效干预措施。
