Introduction: Lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow, is a painful condition, which results
from overuse of wrist extensors muscles. Problems manifest as severe pain around the lateral
epicondyle of the upper arm, which affects an individual's function and quality of life.
Symptoms occur during contractions or palpation of the wrist extensors muscles. Purpose:
The purpose of the diploma work was to compare the effectiveness of shock wave and
ultrasound treatment in patients with lateral epicondylitis of the elbow joint by reviewing the
scientific literature. Methods: Literature was searched in the PubMed online database.
Studies that were not older than 10 years, were full freely available, in English language,
and compared selected treatment methods were included. We searched the literature with
combinations of keywords: "tennis elbow", "lateral epicondylitis", "shockwave therapy",
"ultrasound therapy". Results: In the literature review, six studies were analyzed according
to inclusion criteria. In all studies, shock waves were compared with ultrasound, but the
measurement protocols used differed. Methods of recording results differed, with a median
used in two studies and an average in four. Both therapies were successful in reducing pain
as measured by a visual analog scale and algometer, wrist extension against resistance,
function tests, grip strength, and questionnaires to assess functionality and quality of life.
During the comparison of therapies, it was found that shock waves are more successful than
ultrasound especially over a longer period of time. Discussion and conclusion: Due to
different therapy parameters and different measurement protocols, research is more difficult
to compare with each other. Side effects and the affordability of therapy are two things that
we believe should be considered when choosing therapy. Due to the contradictory results of
other research and insufficient data on the choice of optimal parameters for therapy,
additional research should be done in this area.
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