Comparison of corticosteroid injection with therapeutic ultrasound for pain management in lateral epicondylitis

Background: Lateral epicondylitis is the most common presentation of lateral elbow pain and quite disabling entity in Musculoskeletal rehabilitation. Among the various treatment options, therapeutic ultrasound and local steroid injection are commonly used for managing pain in these patients, but comparative effectiveness of these two treatment procedures are often debated. Aim of Study: To evaluate the efcacy of local corticosteroid injection versus therapeutic ultrasound regarding pain reduction in patients with Lateral epicondylitis. Method:This interventional study was conducted on 56 patients of both sexes within the age group of 18-60 years with unilateral Lateral epicondylitis. They were randomly divided in two groups of same number(28 in each group)- Group-1: managed with local injection of steroid (methylprednisolone-10mg, single dose) with 2% of 0.5 ml lignocaine and Group-2 : managed with Therapeutic Ultrasound. Improvement of pain was assessed in 0-10 visual st analogue scale(VAS). Data collected at 0 week (Visit-1 or Pre-initiation), 3weeks (Visit-2 or 1 Follow up), 6 weeks (Visit-3), 12 weeks (Visit-4). Result: For VAS(pain) score, in both Group-1 and Group-2, there was signicant decrease in subsequent visits (p<0.05). The mean VAS(pain) score of Group-1 was signicantly lower than that of Group-2 in visit -2(p<0.01), visit-3(p<0.01) & visit-4(p<0.05) indicating better outcome in Group-1. Conclusion: Both Local Steroid injection (methylprednisolone) & therapeutic ultrasound are effective in pain management of lateral epicondylitis but Local steroid injection is more effective mostly in early follow up period.