Effectiveness of myofascial release in the management of lateral epicondylitis in computer professionals.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether myofascial release (MFR) reduces the pain and functional disability of lateral epicondylitis (LE) in comparison with a control group receiving sham ultrasound therapy in computer professionals.

DESIGN

Randomized, controlled, single blinded trial.

SETTING

Nonprofit research foundation clinic in Kerala, India.

PARTICIPANTS

Computer professionals (N=68) with LE.

INTERVENTIONS: MFR group or control group. The techniques were administered by certified MFR practitioners and consisted of 12 sessions per client over 4 weeks.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) scale was used to assess pain severity and functional disability. The primary outcome measure was the difference in PRTEE scale scores between week 1 (pretest score), week 4 (posttest score), and follow-up at week 12 after randomization.

RESULTS

The simple main effects analysis showed that the MFR group performed better than the control group in weeks 4 and 12 (P<.005). Patients in the MFR and control groups reported a 78.7% and 6.8% reduction, respectively, in their pain and functional disability in week 4 compared with that in week 1, which persisted as 63.1% in the follow-up at week 12 in the MFR group.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence that MFR is more effective than a control intervention for LE in computer professionals.